{"id":1102,"date":"2024-04-03T23:40:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/koff\/"},"modified":"2024-04-04T00:08:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T21:08:11","slug":"koff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/k\/koff\/","title":{"rendered":"Indrek Koff"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPoems<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\"Indrek<\/a><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tChildren\u2019s stories<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNon-fiction<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAbout Indrek Koff<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Indrek Koff (b. 4. III 1975) is an Estonian writer and prolific translator who has published experimental poetry and children\u2019s books with lyrical undertones.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Koff was born in P\u00e4rnu and studied at P\u00e4rnu S\u00fctevaka High School of Humanities. In 1999, he received his BA in French Language and Literature from the University of Tartu. He has attended several trainings for translators and professors of translation in Estonia, France and Denmark. He has worked at the Estonian Legal Language Centre and as a lecturer at both the universities of Tartu and Tallinn.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Koff\u2019s debut collection Vana laul<\/em> (\u2018Old Song\u2019, 2006) is a narrative verse poem consisting of a cycle of short minimalist poems that uses kissing as a metaphor of telling a person\u2019s life story from the first shy thoughts about kissing until the last cheek kiss of old age. Since his debut publication, Koff uses repeating phrases or sentences in his poetry to amplify the emotion or idea carried in the text (e.g. \u201cthe kiss remained ungiven\u201d). His collection Poeem<\/em> (\u2018Poem\u2019, 2016) is characterized by humorous fragments that observe the life of a writer, literary stereotypes and the institutions of literature. His third collection Saja rahva lood<\/em> (\u2018The Stories of a Hundred Nations\u2019, 2016) has strong themes of intertextuality and contains very many minimalist fairytale drafts that, upon closer inspection, turn out to be summaries of well-known classics and other novels from the point of view of the modern reader.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most renowned of his works is the conceptual poem collection Eestluse eluj\u00f5ust: h\u00fcsteeriline traktaat<\/em> (\u2018On the Vitality of Estonianness: A Hysterical Tract\u2019, 2010) that won the Literature Endowment Annual Award. The collection consists of phrases or clich\u00e9s often used in modern colloquial or spoken Estonian that are divided into thematic groups such as weather, drinking, xenophobia, tragic history, country, cars, etc. The Tract may be considered an encyclopedia of everyday culture mentalities from turn of the century Estonia. At the same time, the title makes an ironic reference to Eestluse eluj\u00f5ud<\/em> (\u2018Vitality of Estonianness\u2019, 1951) \u2013 a book by the folklorist Oskar Loorits. Emphasizing polyphony and thematic diversity are the repeating phrases \u201ctea or coffee\u201d and \u201csick\u201d \u2013 the hatred, jealousy and melancholy hidden with shallow courtesy express the ambivalent nature of Estonian vitality. The same principle is repeated in the work Oi Suomi on<\/em> (2018, co-written by the Estonian-Finnish writer <\/span>Mik\u00e4 Ker\u00e4nen<\/a><\/span><\/span> and Indrek Koff) that focuses on the same themes from the point of view of Finnish culture and language.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Koff\u2019s stories meant for younger children are characterized by many moods and emotions where different events generally lead to the emphasizing of friendship, thoughtfulness, courage and other positive characteristics. In addition to his realist stories, he has also written absurdist stories and children\u2019s stories that use more playful language, for example in the book Kirju koer<\/em> (\u2018Spotted Dog\u2019, 2014).<\/span><\/p>\n

Koff has translated into Estonian mainly French fiction and essays (Emmanuel Carr\u00e9re, Laurent Gaud\u00e9, \u00c9ric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Jean-Claude Mourlevat, Michel Houellebecq, Claude L\u00e9vi-Strauss, Michel Foucault and many others).<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

\n\tPoems<\/em><\/strong>
Vana laul<\/strong>. Illustratsioonid ja kujundus: Hanna Geara. Luige: Verb, 2006, 64 lk.
Eestluse eluj\u00f5ust: h\u00fcsteeriline traktaat<\/strong>. Tallinn: Indrek Koffi T\u00f5lketalu], 2010, 69 lk. [Juurdetr\u00fckk: 2011.]
M\u00fcrk, Asja\u00f5igusest<\/strong>. Tallinn: Roheline Kuu, 2012, 143 lk. [M\u00fcrk on Jan Kausi ja Indrek Koffi \u00fchispseudon\u00fc\u00fcm.]
Poeem<\/strong>. J\u00fcri Mildebergi pildid. Tallinn: H\u00e4rra Tee & proua Kohvi, 2016, 55 lk.
Saja rahva lood<\/strong>. J\u00fcri Mildebergi pildid. Tallinn: H\u00e4rra Tee & proua Kohvi, 2016, 54 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Children\u2019s stories<\/em><\/strong>
Enne kooli: unejuturaamat lastele, kes oskavad juba ise lugeda, ja neile ka, kes veel ise ei oska, aga kelle ema ja isa oskavad<\/strong>. Illustratsioonid: Andres Varustin. Tallinn: Kirjastuskeskus, 2009, 84 lk.
Meie suur puu<\/strong>. Illustreerinud Louise Duneton. Tallinn: P\u00e4ike ja Pilv, 2012, 43 lk.
Kui ma oleksin vanaisa<\/strong>. Pildid joonistanud Marion Undusk. Tallinn: P\u00e4ike ja Pilv, 2013, 77 lk.
Kirju koer<\/strong>. Pildid joonistanud Marion Undusk. Tallinn: H\u00e4rra Tee & proua Kohvi, 2014, 61 lk.
Koju<\/strong>. Illustreerinud ja kujundanud Marja-Liisa Plats. Tallinn: H\u00e4rra Tee & proua Kohvi, 2014, 45 lk.
Ilusti<\/strong>. Illustreerinud ja kujundanud Ulla Saar Tallinn: H\u00e4rra Tee & proua Kohvi, 2016, 53 lk.
Ma elan h\u00e4sti<\/strong>. Illustreerinud Ulla Saar. Tallinn: H\u00e4rra Tee & proua Kohvi, 2016, 29 lk.
Kooliraamat<\/strong>. Illustreerinud ja kujundanud Marja-Liisa Plats. Tallinn: Tallinna Keskraamatukogu, 2017, 92 lk.<\/p>\n

Non-fiction<\/em><\/strong>
Indrek Koff, Liisa-Ly Pakosta, Kirjad lapsevanemale<\/strong>. Pildid joonistas Anne Pikkov. Tallinn: Soolise v\u00f5rd\u00f5iguslikkuse ja v\u00f5rdse kohtlemise voliniku kantselei, 2016, 60 lk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poems\u00a0 Children\u2019s stories Non-fiction About Indrek Koff Indrek Koff (b. 4. III 1975) is an Estonian writer and prolific translator who has published experimental poetry and children\u2019s books with lyrical undertones. Koff was born in P\u00e4rnu and studied at P\u00e4rnu …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"parent":498,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1102","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1102","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=1102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3973,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1102\/revisions\/3973"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}