{"id":487,"date":"2024-04-03T23:39:53","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/alver\/"},"modified":"2024-09-06T12:06:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T09:06:25","slug":"alver","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/a\/alver\/","title":{"rendered":"Betti Alver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poems<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\"Betti<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Novels<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

About Betti Alver<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Betti (Elisabet) Alver, a translator, prosaist, and one of the most renowned Estonian poets of the twentieth century, was born November 23, 1906 in J\u00f5geva. As the youngest child of a railway master, she lived in a house next to the train station with her father, mother, and older brother, Martin. Sources have characterized her family life as a happy event \u2013 one that inspired many of her poems, including Rumalad s\u00f5nad<\/em> and Minu ema<\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1914, Alver moved to Tartu with her brother and mother to attend primary school. Since her family couldn\u2019t afford to send her to a boarding house, they rented a room, and her father would visit on weekends. Later, Alver made the commute herself from J\u00f5geva to Tartu, graduating from secondary school in 1924. That same year, she began attending the University of Tartu to study Estonian language and literature.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Alver\u2019s literary debut arrived in 1927 with the publication of her short story Vaene v\u00e4ike<\/em> (\u2018Poor Little Thing\u2019) and Tuulearmuke <\/em>(\u2018The Wind\u2019s Paramour\u2019), a novel she wrote in high school, which won second place in the publishing company Loodus\u2019 novel competition. With the success of her novel, she left the university in order to pursue literature. Though a couple other prose pieces followed Tuulearmuke<\/em>, including the story Invaliidid<\/em> (\u2018The Invalids\u2019) in 1930 and later the prose poem Viletsuse kom\u00f6\u00f6dia<\/em> (\u2018The Comedy of Misery\u2019) in 1935, Alver made the shift from prose to poetry in 1931, debuting with her lyrical epic Lugu valgest varesest<\/em> (\u2018The Tale of a White Crow\u2019). However, it was the 1936 publication of her first collection of highly acclaimed lyric poems, Tolm ja tuli <\/em>(\u2018Dust and Fire\u2019) \u2013 an accumulation of nearly five years of work \u2013 that firmly established her as a poet.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Interactions with other poets and intellectuals of the time defined much of Alver\u2019s early poetic life. She stood out as a masterful manipulator of language, capable of writing with formal simplicity while still maintaining the depth of her ideas as well as the playfulness and irony of her voice. In 1934, she became a member of the Estonian Writers\u2019 Union. She was also one of eight poets in the symbolically significant group Arbujad (Soothsayers), and was greatly influenced by the lyrical poet Heiti Talvik, whom she eventually married in 1937.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

During much of World War II, Alver lived in the southern Estonian village of P\u00fchaste, which retained many Estonian rural traditions. The folkloristic influence undoubtedly inspired her work, and she began putting together a second poetry collection, Elupuu <\/em>(\u2018Tree of Life\u2019); because of German Occupation, however, the collection remained unpublished. These poems were printed eventually in her later works. In 1945, Heiti Talvik was arrested and deported to Siberia, where he died two years later\u2014an event that arguably started a new era for Alver\u2019s poetry.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After the war, Alver disappeared from the literary scene, refusing to publish poetry acceptable to Soviet authorities, and instead focused primarily on translations. Her translation of Pushkin\u2019s Eugene Onegin<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(translated from 1956\u201363, published first by the chapter in the journal Looming and then in its entirety in 1964) received much critical praise. Alver also translated other writers, including Baudelaire, Gorki, Goethe, and Heine. In 1956, she married the literary historian Mart Lepik.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The 60s were a period of renewed vitality for Alver. Before and during the war, she had taken an interest in Estonian language forms, dialects, and folk traditions. Now, she returned to her study of Estonian vocabulary, compiling notes from Andrus Saareste\u2019s dictionary with the goal of applying it to her own poetry. The publication of the poems T\u00e4hetund<\/em> (\u2018Stellar Hour\u2019) and L\u00e4bi lillede<\/em> (\u2018Through the Flowers\u2019) in Looming that same year marked her return as a poet. Her newest collection, T\u00e4hetund,<\/em> followed in 1966. Having been silent for almost twenty years, Alver was met with earnest enthusiasm from the Estonian people. All 10,000 copies of the first edition sold out in a few hours. The poem T\u00e4hetund<\/em> won the Juhan Liiv Poetry Award in 1967.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Alver went on to publish three more collections of poetry: Eluhelbed <\/em>(\u2018Flakes of Life\u2019) in 1971, consisting of poems written from 1932\u201340 and 1966\u201370, Lendav Linn <\/em>(\u2018The Flying City\u2019) in 1980, and the philosophical, more experimental Korallid Emaj\u00f5es <\/em>(\u2018Corals in the Emaj\u00f5gi\u2019) in 1986, which conceptualized life and its dangers and stressed the importance of the independent individual. The latter two collections both won the Smuul Literary Award (Estonian Annual Prize for Literature). In 1987, Alver won the Juhan Liiv Poetry Award for the second time in recognition of her poem Elul on v\u00e4ikene hingemaa<\/em>. She also won the Friedebert Tuglas Short Story Award in 1977 for K\u00f5mpa<\/em> (1976), a story based on childhood memories.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Betti Alver died June 19, 1989 in Tartu and was buried in the Raadi Vana-Jaani graveyard. In 1996, a symbolic monument and a memorial park were erected in her honor in J\u00f5geva. For her 100th<\/sup> birthday in 2006, her childhood home was made into a museum.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

M. M.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Homepage<\/a> of the Betti Alver Museum in J\u00f5geva (in Estonian).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


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

Poems<\/strong><\/em>
\nLugu valgest varasest: poeem<\/strong>. Tartu: Noor-Eesti, 1931, 66 lk. [E-raamat: Tallinn: Digira, 2014.]
\nViletsuse kom\u00f6\u00f6dia<\/strong>. Tartu: Eesti Kirjastuse Kooperatiiv, 1935, 125 lk. [Poeemid ja proosaluuletused. 2. tr\u00fckk: Tallinn: (s.n.), 1990, 125 lk.]
\nTolm ja tuli<\/strong>. Tartu: Eesti Kirjastuse Kooperatiiv, 1936, 95 lk. [E-raamat: Tallinn: Digira, 2014.]
\nLuuletused ja poeemid<\/strong>. Stockholm: Vaba Eesti, 1956, 248 lk.
\nM\u00f5rane peegel: kuus poeemi<\/strong>. Tallinn: Ajalehtede-Ajakirjade Kirjastus (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 1962, 56 lk. [E-raamat: Tallinn: Digira, 2015.]
\nT\u00e4hetund: valik luuletusi ja poeeme<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1966, 232 lk. [E-raamat: Tallinn: Digira, 2014.]
\nUued luuletused ja poeemid<\/strong>. Toronto: Mana, 1968, 56 lk.
\nEluhelbed<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1971, 103 lk.
\nLendav Linn<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1979, 412 lk.
\nKorallid Emaj\u00f5es<\/strong>.Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1986, 92 lk.
\n\u00dcle s\u00f5nade serva: valik luulet<\/strong>. Koostanud Karl Muru. Tallinn: K. Muru; T\u00e4nap\u00e4ev, 2004, 97 lk.
\nKoguja: suur luuleraamat<\/strong>. Koostanud Ele S\u00fcvalep. Tartu: Ilmamaa, 2005, 559 lk.
\nKotuse lill: viis poeemi<\/strong>. Koostanud Karl Muru. Tallinn: T\u00e4nap\u00e4ev, 2006, 61 lk.
\nTulipunane vihmavari: valik luulet<\/strong>. Koostanud Mall J\u00f5gi. Tallinn: Tammerraamat, 2012, 175 lk.
\nOmajuur<\/strong>. Koostanud Kristi Metste; toimetanud Elo Rohult. Tallinn: T\u00e4nap\u00e4ev, 2017, 321 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Novels<\/em><\/strong>
\nTuulearmuke<\/strong>. Tartu: Loodus, 1927, 255 lk. [E-raamat: Tallinn: Digira, 2014.]
\nInvaliidid<\/strong>. Tartu: Loodus, 1930, 204 lk. [E-raamat: Tallinn: Digira, 2014.]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Short stories<\/strong><\/em>
\nK\u00f5mpa<\/strong>. J\u00f5geva: Betti Alveri Muuseum, 2011, 123 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Non-fiction<\/strong><\/em>
\nMinu lamp p\u00f5leb: Betti Alveri ja Mart Lepiku kirjavahetus 1947-1970<\/strong>. Koostanud Kristi Metste ja Eve Annuk. Tallinn: Varrak, 2015, 301 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Collected works<\/strong><\/em>
\nTeosed, 1. k\u00f6ide: \u00dcle aegade Assamalla. Luuletusi ja poeeme<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1989, 542 lk.
\nTeosed, 2. k\u00f6ide: Tuulearmuke; Invaliidid; Viletsuse kom\u00f6\u00f6dia; K\u00f5mpa; Proosa 1927-1976<\/strong>. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1992, 525 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poems Novels About Betti Alver Betti (Elisabet) Alver, a translator, prosaist, and one of the most renowned Estonian poets of the twentieth century, was born November 23, 1906 in J\u00f5geva. As the youngest child of a railway master, she lived …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"parent":485,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-487","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/487","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=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5208,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/487\/revisions\/5208"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}