{"id":1949,"date":"2024-04-03T23:42:13","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/saaber\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T14:52:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T11:52:51","slug":"saaber","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/s\/saaber\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalju Saaber"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

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

Kalju Saaber <\/span>(b. 11. X 1944) is a prose writer and playwright, children\u2019s author and commentator.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saaber was born in Inju-Aruv\u00e4lja village, K\u00fcti parish, Viru county. He attended Paide and Rakvere secondary school, and then worked as a furniture-maker at the Rakvere timber combine, and graduated in 1963 from number 1 secondary school for working youths, Rakvere. From 1964 to 1967 Saaber studied history at Tartu State University. His studies were cut short when he contracted tuberculosis. Since 1968 Kalju Saaber has been a professional writer. He has been a member of the Writers\u2019 Union since 1979. Saaber lives in Rakvere.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saaber made his debut in 1965 with a story in the journal Noorus <\/span><\/i>called Kilde m\u00f6\u00f6besepa p\u00e4evikust<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(\u2018Slivers from the Diary of a Furniture-maker\u2019), and thereafter he published several stories and tales in publications. The best of them were gathered in his first collection Romeo, Julia ja \u00f5huh\u00e4ire <\/span><\/i>(\u2018Romeo, Juliet and the Air-raid Alarm\u2019). There followed several collections and tales, as well as the novel Raske vesi <\/span><\/i>(\u2018Heavy Water\u2019). On the basis of the story Mustlased (\u2018The Gypsies\u2019), a short film, T\u00e4toveering <\/span><\/i>(\u2018The Tattoo\u2019) was made by the Tallinnfilm studios (1977, director Peeter Simm; the artistic supervisor\u00a0of the film was Andrey Tarkovsky). Saaber\u2019s earlier prose work is full of symbolism and influences from other writers. The locations of the works are often exotic, and the style is theatrically image-laden. The author concentrates on turning points in young people\u2019s personal development. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his more recent work Saaber\u2019s style has become more realistic. He has depicted life in the villages of Virumaa in the difficult post-war period and the formation of kolkhoz <\/span><\/i>collectives. In the novel H\u00e4rgamisi <\/span><\/i>(\u2018Slow as an Ox\u2019, 1980), the focus is on the tragic fate of man of peasant values caught up in the historic events of the forties. For this book Saaber won the Eduard Vilde literature award in 1981. Saaber\u2019s play Virumaa leib <\/span><\/i>(\u2018Virumaa Bread\u2019, staged in 1980) gives a panoramic view of village life in the decades after the war. With the play Kontv\u00f5\u00f5rad <\/span><\/i>(\u2018Uninvited Guests\u2019, staged in 1987) the author reacted to the danger of creating phosphorite\u00a0mines. In the novel Punaselageda saaga <\/span><\/i>(\u2018The Saga of Red Plains\u2019), which was based on documentary material, Kalju Saaber was devoted to tracing the fates of Estonian farmers who migrated to Siberia and the Caucasus in the 19th<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0century. The work won him the 1991 Virumaa literature prize and the 1992 Eduard Vilde literature award. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saaber has also written children\u2019s stories, poems, humorous sketches, cultural criticism and travelogues, as well as documentary film scripts. He compiled the anthology Virumaast ja virulastest <\/span><\/i>(\u2018About Virumaa and Its People\u2019) as well as the collection Virumaa <\/span><\/i>(1996). His articles about local history are collected in Virumaa, me hingepigi: marginalia<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(\u2018Virumaa, Tar\u00a0of Our Souls: Side Notes\u2019, 1998). The volume Rakvere lugemik <\/span><\/i>(\u2018The Rakvere Reader\u2019, 2002), prepared for the 700th<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of the town of Rakvere, is a chronicle of the town in essay form, a compilation of meditations on significant events, places and people for the town. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007 Kalju Saaber was awarded the badge of the Crown of Rakvere.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saaber\u2019s novel H\u00e4rgamisi <\/span><\/i>has appeared in Russian. His short prose and children\u2019s stories have appeared in a dozen languages.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

L.<\/span>\u00a0<\/i>P.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(Translated by C. M.)<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Novels<\/span><\/b><\/em>
Raske vesi<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1976. 224 lk.
H\u00e4rgamisi<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1980. 232 lk.
Puulane ja Tohtlane. \u00dche perenaise saaga<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1983. 303 lk.
Hiiehobune<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1989. 254 lk.
Punaselageda saaga<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1991. 479 lk.
Luukere Atu<\/strong>. Tallinn: Avita, 2001. 253 lk.
Kohtume Islandi v\u00e4raval<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 2013. 206 lk.
S\u00f5idud Luukase ja Keesuga<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 2015. 269 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short prose<\/span><\/b><\/em>
Romeo, Julia ja \u00f5huh\u00e4ire<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1972. 296 lk.
Hellase k\u00f5rb<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1975. 182 lk.
Mees, naine ja bernhardiin<\/strong>. Tallinn: Perioodika, 1978. 37 lk.
Meri: impressioon<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1978. 196 lk.
Kahe kodu ballaad<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1980. 192 lk.
Prantsuse kingad; Virumaa leib<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1986. 164 lk. [Jutte ja n\u00e4idend.]
Haruldast t\u00f5ugu issi<\/strong>. Tallinn: Varrak, 2004. 198 lk.
Meister tegi, h\u00e4sti tegi<\/strong>. Tallinn: TEA Kirjastus, 2007. 109 lk.
Issanda loomaaed. Viru sektor<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 2007. 357 lk. [Jutte ja n\u00e4idend.<\/span><\/span><\/span>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plays<\/span><\/b><\/em>
Prantsuse kingad; Virumaa leib<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1986. 164 lk. [Jutte ja n\u00e4idend.]
Issanda loomaaed. Viru sektor<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 2007. 357 lk. [Jutte ja n\u00e4idend.]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children\u2019s books<\/span><\/b><\/em>
Nille, V\u00e4rten ja Peopesa<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1981. 79 lk.
On<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1984. 18 lk.
Saurusesuvi<\/strong>. P\u00e4rnu: Perona, 1993. 183 lk.
Lepatriinu asfaldil<\/strong>. Tallinn: TEA Kirjastus, 2007. 142 lk.
Palju v\u00e4ikseid virmalisi<\/strong>. Tallinn: TEA Kirjastus, 2007. 114 lk.
Sipelgad ja suvitajad<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 2017. 157 lk.
Vanat\u00e4di valged elevandid<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 2019. 191 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-fiction<\/span><\/b><\/em>
Kaimude raamat. Publitsistikat ja reisikirju 1974\u20131980 [1. osa]<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1982. 159 lk.
Kaimude raamat. Publitsistikat ja reisikirju 1979\u20131985 [2. osa]<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1982. 253 lk.
Virumaa, me hingepigi: marginaalia<\/strong>. Rakvere: L\u00e4\u00e4ne-Viru Maavalitsus, 1998. 96 lk.
Rakvere lugemik: linnakodanikele passieast vanaduseni<\/strong>. Rakvere: T\u00e4nap\u00e4ev, 2002. 180 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Short stories \u00a0 \u00a0 Kalju Saaber (b. 11. X 1944) is a prose writer and playwright, children\u2019s author and commentator. Saaber was born in Inju-Aruv\u00e4lja village, K\u00fcti parish, Viru county. He attended Paide and Rakvere secondary school, and then worked …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"parent":697,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1949","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1949","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=1949"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7286,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1949\/revisions\/7286"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}