Introducing Igor Kotjuh

Onsdag, 23 Mars 2011 08:21

We have been quite busy with our artistic director Guntars. The hard work has paid off, and some really interesting poets are participating in the Poetry Ride this year. We will also have a photographer travelling with us, which is a quite interesting addition to our crew.

One by one, I will introduce to you the poetry riders of 2011. I will start
 with a poet with whom I share our home country, Estonia. Igor Kotjuh writes in
 Russian language and translates his poems to Estonian by himself. He is also 
known as a translator of Estonian literature to Russian. He lives in a linguistically interesting place, as his hometown Võru is known for its way of speech, võro kiil. Some people consider it to be a dialect of Estonian language, some regard it is a language in its own right. Must be an inspiring environment for a linguistically talented person! Russian is not widely spoken in that part of the country, but seems to be well-spoken, as Kotjuh is one of the most famous Russian-speaking writers of Estonia. 

I had the pleasure of seeing Igor Kotjuh perform last November in an event organised by Helsinki Poetry Connection in Tallinn. I liked the warm humour of his poems and can’t wait hearing them straight from the source again during the Poetry Ride. He has published two anthologies in Estonian, Teises keeles ("In another language", 2007) and Usaldusliin ("Trusted line", 2010.). I have the possibility to read his poems in my mother tongue, as Finnish publishing house Savukeidas has published his anthology Yritys kumppanuudeksi (this one is hard to translate, but an extremely raw translation is "Trying partnership", 2010). The anthology is translated by Jukka Mallinen and Hanna Samola. Go on and read the poems, whatever language you choose!