Eesti Kirjanike Cooperative

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Logo of the Eesti Kirjanike Cooperative

Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv ('Estonian Writers' Cooperative ') was an exil Estonian publishing house that existed from 1950 to 1994.

founding

On December 10, 1950 , the Estonian author in exile Valev Uibopuu called together a few colleagues to discuss the establishment of a publishing house. In addition to him, the writers August Gailit and Bernard Kangro were present, as well as Enn Vallak (1916–2007) as a patron. Two hours later the new publishing house with the name Estonian Writers' Cooperative ( Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv , EKK) was born. The background to this was the dissatisfaction of the majority of the Estonian authors in exile with the monopoly of the exile publisher ORTO , which was founded by Andres Laur (1908–1973) in 1944 and paid only low fees. So there had been discussions and deliberations for about a year. The breakthrough came with the willingness of the businessman and inventor Enn Vallak to finance the project. Vallak met Gailit and August Mälk in 1944 in a Swedish refugee camp. When Gailit wrote a letter to his friend Henrik Visnapuu , who was already living in the USA , he was pleased that Laur's ORTO would soon face competition: “Laur has money like hay and it would destroy any company. But when the better authors turn their backs on him, then he is finished. "

Lund was the seat of the cooperative because Kangro already published his magazine Tulimuld here and he had good connections with the local printing company.

Publications

A total of 415 books were published by EKK between 1951 and 1993 . All books have the place of publication Lund. There was a so-called “A series”, in which novels, collections of novels and memoirs were distributed on the basis of the book club principle, as well as a “B series” for poetry, books for young people, popular scientific works or other things. In terms of content, the focus was on Estonian literature, according to the statutes, which accordingly made up 354 titles, 333 of which were original titles. The authors with the most titles were Bernard Kangro (55), Arvo Mägi (35), Karl Ristikivi (20) and Valev Uibopuu (22).

Outside of the series, a collection of translated poems by Bernard Kangro has been published:

  • Escape and stay. Selection of poems . German by Hermann Stock. Lund: Eesti Kirjanike Cooperative; Cologne and Garmisch-Partenkirchen: Schweitzer in Komm. 1954. 96 pp.

Secondary literature

  • Janika Kronberg : Tiibhobu märgi all. Eesti Kirjanike cooperative 1950–1994. Tallinn: Underi ja Tuglase Kirjanduskeskus 2002. 287 p. (Collegium litterarum 13)
  • Anne Valmas: 40 aastaga 400 raamatut, in: Keel ja Kirjandus 9/1991, pp. 547–556.
  • Anne Valmas: Eestlaste kirjastus tegevus välismaal 1944–2000. I. Tallinn: Tallinna Pedagoogikaülikool 2003. 204 pp.
  • Anne Valmas: Eestlaste kirjastus tegevus välismaal 1944–2000. II. Raamatukataloog. Tallinn: Tallinna Pedagoogikaülikool 2003. 397 pp.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anne Valmas: 40 aastaga 400 raamatut in: Keel yes Kirjandus 9/1991, S. 547th
  2. ↑ Janika Kronberg: Tiibhobu märgi all. Tallinn: Underi ja Tuglase Kirjanduskeskus 2002, p. 14.
  3. ↑ Anne Valmas: Edukas yes kõmuline "Orto", in: Keel yes Kirjandus 9/1993, S. 549th
  4. ↑ Janika Kronberg: Tiibhobu märgi all. Tallinn: Underi ja Tuglase Kirjanduskeskus 2002, pp. 22-25.
  5. ↑ Janika Kronberg: Tiibhobu märgi all. Tallinn: Underi ja Tuglase Kirjanduskeskus 2002, p. 29.
  6. ↑ Complete index in: Janika Kronberg: Tiibhobu märgi all. Tallinn: Underi ja Tuglase Kirjanduskeskus 2002, pp. 252–278, some with information on the number of copies.
  7. ↑ Anne Valmas: Eestlaste Kirjastus tegevus välismaal 1944-2000. I. Tallinn: Tallinna Pedagoogikaülikool 2003, p. 54.