{"id":101,"date":"2024-04-03T23:39:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/orlau\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T23:48:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T20:48:06","slug":"orlau","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/o\/orlau\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen Orlau"},"content":{"rendered":"

Short stories<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karen Orlau (real name Katariina Roosipuu, nee T\u00e4ht, born 1975) is an Estonian writer who has mostly published horror and fantasy stories.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orlau is from Lahemaa, but lives in Tallinn. She has studied business management and management and marketing in the Tallinn University of Technology (graduating in 2002 and 2014, respectively). She has also given lectures on digital marketing in the same university. Orlau has worked as a project manager and strategist in several advertising and digital agencies, and as a marketing manager in an IT company.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orlau, using the pseudonym Kate Star, debuted with the short story Saatuslik viga<\/em> (\u2018Fatal Mistake\u2019, 1997) in the magazine Mardus<\/em>. She has published a poetry collection, a short novel and nearly thirty short stories, which belong to the ethno-horror and fantasy subgenres. She has published her stories in the magazines Algernon<\/em> and Looming<\/em>, in the anthology Mardus<\/em> and in collections Eesti ulme antoloogia<\/em> (\u2018Anthology of Estonian Speculative Fiction\u2019, 2002), Retk h\u00e4marusse<\/em> (\u2018Journey into the Dusk\u2019, 2003), Fantastika<\/em> (2004), \u00d5udne Eesti. Valimik eesti \u00f5udusjutte<\/em> (\u2018Scary Estonia. A Selection of Estonian Horror Stories\u2019, 2005) and Pikad varjud<\/em> (\u2018Long Shadows\u2019, 2015). As separate works, the story collection Sealtmaalt<\/em> (\u2018From Over Yonder\u2019, 2002) and the poetry collection Eelm\u00e4ng kahele<\/em> (\u2018Foreplay for Two\u2019, 2004) with Ylle Rajasaar, which includes both authors\u2019 poems from 1996 to 2004. The Stalker Prize of the Estonian Science Fiction Association has been awarded to her short stories Oraakli surm<\/em> (\u2018Death of the Oracle\u2019, 1998) and Rannahiidsed<\/em> (\u2018Coastal Folk\u2019, 2000). The former has also been published in the Finnish language Estonian stories collection Tallinsta pois: groteskia virolaista proosaa<\/em> (2003).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her horror stories with their original figurative language have diverse themes and mythological subject-matter, the stories are often from a woman\u2019s perspective and the violence is described in detail. Orlau has also written neo-gothic horror, e.g. the short stories Oraakli surm<\/em>, Elisale<\/em> (\u2018For Elisa\u2019, 1998), Vend Juudas<\/em> (\u2018Brother Judas\u2019, 1999) and Kohtumine Emaga<\/em> (\u2018Meeting with Mother\u2019, 1999). The hard fantasy short novel Kelmid ja kangelased<\/em> (\u2018Crooks and Heroes\u2019, 2003) can be considered the first work of Estonian language roleplay literature. Her varied verse poetry is dominated by a self-centered point of view on the theme of love, but there are also motifs from fantasy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her most well-known ethno-horror short story is \u2018Coastal Folk\u2019 (2000), which draws on ancient beliefs and customs, portraying complicated relationships in an Estonian village society. The reclusive witch Liida is at the center of the psychologically charged story, whose withdrawal from village community causes rumors and fear in the community. The horror atmosphere is amplified by the motif of mob law and curses connected to past events, in addition to the lore of stillborn children, which is told with emotional fervor and manipulative allusions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The witch stories Erak ja n\u00f5id<\/em> (\u2018The Hermit and the Witch\u2019, 2001) and Hunt, Madu ja P\u00f5rgu perenaine<\/em> (\u2018The Wolf, the Snake and the Mistress of Hell\u2019, 2002) portray the fight over inherited power and might, which brings with it ancient terrors and brutal violence. In the story \u00d5pilane<\/em> (\u2018The Student\u2019, 2003), a young man with supernatural powers must maneuver between light and dark magic in order to gain the respected position of village witch. The horror story Viimane s\u00f5na<\/em> (\u2018Last Word\u2019, 2019) begins with strange occurrences and tells the story of a woman who can change the fates of people with the power of words.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. O. (Translated by A. S.)<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Works in Estonian<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story collection<\/em><\/strong>
Sealtmaalt<\/strong>. Tallinn: Salas\u00f5na, 2002, 138 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poetry collection<\/em><\/strong>
Karen Orlau, Ylle Rajasaar, Eelm\u00e4ng kahele<\/strong>. Kanepi: K\u00e4mmu Disain, 2004, 81 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Novella<\/em><\/strong>
Kelmid ja kangelased<\/strong>. \u2013 Retk h\u00e4marusse. Ulmeantoloogia. Koostanud ja toimetanud Mario Kivistik. Tallinn: Salas\u00f5na, 2003, 173 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Short stories \u00a0 Karen Orlau (real name Katariina Roosipuu, nee T\u00e4ht, born 1975) is an Estonian writer who has mostly published horror and fantasy stories. Orlau is from Lahemaa, but lives in Tallinn. She has studied business management and management …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"parent":663,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-101","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10000,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101\/revisions\/10000"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}