{"id":939,"date":"2024-04-03T23:40:33","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/martkangur\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T18:18:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T15:18:06","slug":"martkangur","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/k\/martkangur\/","title":{"rendered":"Mart Kangur"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

\n\tMart Kangur (b. 4 V 1971) is an Estonian poet, translator and philosopher.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tFrom 1978 to 1989 Kangur attended N\u00f5mme Gymnasium, and from 1991 to 2005 studied languages, literary theory, philosophy and Oriental studies at the Estonian Institute of the Humanities. He obtained a Baccalaureat and a Master\u2019s degree in cultural theory. Kangur has given lectures and seminars at the Estonian Institute of Humanities and the University of Tallinn on aesthetics, Husserl\u2019s, Hume\u2019s, Kant\u2019s and Derrida\u2019s philosophy. He has worked as a freelance translator and editor, published poetry, prose and reviews in the journals Vikerkaar<\/em> and Looming<\/em> as well as the newspapers Sirp<\/em>, Postimees<\/em> and M\u00fc\u00fcrileht<\/em>. Since 2016 he has been a member of the Estonian Writers\u2019 Union and its translators\u2019 section.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tMart Kangur entered literature with a prose collection jointly with Ivar Ravi (pseudonym of Eik Hermann) and Jaak Rand, Jaak Rand ja teisi jutte<\/em> (\u2018Jaak Rand and Other Stories\u2019, 2005). It contains experimental texts, which often describe writing and literature and refer back to the writing subject or the act of writing, creating paradoxical vicious circles similar to M.C. Escher\u2019s pictures. The work won the Betti Alver Debut Prize.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Mart Kangur has subsequently published prose in periodicals, what has come between book-covers are three collections of poetry, which have won him the most recognition as a writer. The first and second of these \u2013 Kuldne p\u00f5li<\/em> (\u2018The Golden Age\u2019, 2009) and K\u00f5rgusekartus<\/em> (\u2018Fear of Heights\u2019, 2015) both earned him the University of Tallinn literature prize. The Cultural Endowment Annual Award was given to Kangur for his third poetry collection, Liivini lahti<\/em> (\u2018Cut Open to Juhan Liiv\u2019, 2017) as well as for his translation into Estonian of Gilles Deleuze and F\u00e9lix Guattari\u2019s Capitalism and schizophrenia 1. Anti-Oedipus. Kangur\u2019s poem tahaks eesti \/ liivini lahti v\u00f5tta<\/em> [\u2018I would like to cut Estonia open to reveal its inner Juhan Liiv\u2019] won him the Juhan Liiv<\/a> Poetry Prize in 2016.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collection Armkude<\/em> (\u2018Scar Tissue\u2019, 2021) mainly contains poems from 2017-2020 and focuses on love and relationships. The collection won the Gustav Suits<\/a> Poetry Prize and once again the Tallinn University literature price. The fifth collection Kellegi teisena<\/em> (\u2018As Somebody Else\u2019, 2021) was described by the author as as a couple to Armkude<\/em>: it also contains poetry from 2017-2020, but is more playful, and ecological, social and political themes are in the foreground instead of relationships. The sixth collection P\u00f6\u00f6rduks<\/em> (\u2018Revolving Door\u2019, 2024) published in the journal Loomingu Raamatukogu, contains, according to its introductory text, \u201cattempts to overcome love, but entangles itself deeper and deeper\u201d, while also being philosophical, playing with language and dealing with the issues of Ukrainian war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kangur\u2019s poems are, like his prose, full of word-play and contain abundant intertextual references to literature and philosophy. At the same time his striving for laconic economy of expression is aimed at a deeper recognition of the world, of his fellow man and of himself. Beginning from the collection, Liivini lahti<\/em>, there is a markedly sharper political focus.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From French, Kangur has also translated Jacques Derrida\u2019s The Gift of Death (published in Estonian in 2011) and Ren\u00e9 Girard\u2019s Violence and the Sacred (published in Estonian in 2025), and from English Manuel DeLanda\u2019s Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy (in Estonian in 2019) and works by Ernest Hemingway and other authors.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kangur is one of the recipients of the Writer\u2019s Salary in 2025-2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tS. V. (Translated by C. M.)<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\u00a0\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Poems<\/em><\/strong>
Kuldne p\u00f5li<\/strong>. Tallinn: Koma, 2009, 71 lk.
K\u00f5rgusekartus<\/strong>. Tallinn: Kirimiri, 2015, 102 lk.
Liivini lahti<\/strong>. Tallinn: Kirimiri, 2017, 95 lk.<\/span><\/span>
Armkude<\/strong>. Koostanud Aare Pilv. Tallinn: S\u00f5nahulgus, 2021, 72 lk.
Kellegi teisena<\/strong>. Tallinn: S\u00f5nahulgus, 2021, 75 lk.
P\u00f6\u00f6rduks<\/strong>. Tallinn: SA Kultuurileht (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 2024, 79 lk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tProse<\/em><\/strong>
Mart Kangur, Ivar Ravi, Jaak Rand, Jaak Rand ja teisi jutte<\/strong>. Tallinn: Elund ja Partnerid, 2005, 143 lk.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Poems\u00a0 \u00a0 Mart Kangur (b. 4 V 1971) is an Estonian poet, translator and philosopher. From 1978 to 1989 Kangur attended N\u00f5mme Gymnasium, and from 1991 to 2005 studied languages, literary theory, philosophy and Oriental studies at the Estonian Institute …<\/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-939","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/939","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=939"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10895,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/939\/revisions\/10895"}],"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=939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}