Maimu mountain

Maimu Berg (2010)

Maimu Berg (born August 27, 1945 in Tallinn ) is an Estonian essayist, writer and translator .

Life

Maimu Berg (1945–1969 Maimu Seping, 1969–1979 Maimu Vahing) graduated from high school in Tallinn and studied Estonian philology at the University of Tartu until 1968 . She first worked as an editor for a fashion magazine before finding literature in 1988. In her works, she often describes with great empathy the personal feelings, fears and hopes of people in the Soviet era as well as in the present.

In addition to her literary work, she has been cultural manager at the Finnish Cultural Institute in Tallinn since 1991. She is also active as a politician in the Estonian People's Union ( Rahvaliit ).

• 1992 scholarship at the Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf .
• 1994 scholarship at the Baltic Center for Writers and Translators in Visby .
• 1996 scholarship at the literary colloquium in Berlin.
• 1997 and 2006 Artist in Residence of the Väino Tanner Fund in Mazzano

Awards

• 2000 Anton Hansen Tammsaare Prize of the Albu community
• 2002 Order of the White Star, 5th class
• 2008 Aleksander Kurtna Prize
• 2016 Friedebert Tuglas Novella Prize
• 2017 August Gailit Novella Prize

Works

• "Kirjutajad. Seisab üksi mäe peal" (1987, German: Barbara von Tisenhusen , 1993)
• "On läinud: lugusid ja kunstmuinasjutte" (1991)
• "Ma armastasin venelast" (1994, German: I loved a Russian. In memory of the snowy winters of childhood , 1998)
• "Mina, moeajakirjanik" (1996)
• "Seisab üksi mäe peal" (1998)
• "Era" (1999)
• "Tants lahkunud isaga: vaateid Eesti ellu" (2003)
• "Rokokoo daam. Minu elu temaga. Vanad lood" (2005)
• "Unustatud inimesed" (2007)
• "Vein rulet. Euro pass! Euro pass!" (2008)
• "Moemaja" (2012)

In addition, numerous translations from Finnish.

German translations

Maimu Berg has published a number of short stories, two novels and some extracts from novels in German.

Short stories

• The rococo lady [Estonian: rokokoo daam], trans. by Irja Grönholm. In: Mirages. Frankfurt / Main: dipa 1991, pp. 7-17.
• The spirit of the city of Tartu [Estonian: Tartu vaim], transl. by Helgi Loik and Holger Fliessbach. In: Freibeuter No. 52. Berlin: Wagenbach 1992, pp. 100–114.
• A very interesting introduction [Estonian: Üpris huvitav algatus], trans. by Irja Grönholm. In: Sinn und Form 45 (1993), pp. 811-813.
• Estonian Dream [Estonian: Estonian Dream], trans. by Irja Grönholm. In: Sinn und Form 48 (1996), pp. 751-759.
• In the mountains [Estonian: Mägedes], translated by Cornelius Hasselblatt. In: Estonia 2/1996, pp. 47-49.
• In the mountains [Estonian: Mägedes], translated by Cornelia Hasselblatt. In: Estonia 2/1996, pp. 50-52.
• Sophisticated Lady [estn .: Sophisticated lady], trans. by Irja Grönholm (editorially shortened). In: Neues Deutschland (Berlin), 6./7. July 1996, p. 13.
• Baltic Dream [estn .: Baltic Dream], trans. by Irja Grönholm. In: = Estonia 2006, 11–28

Books

• Barbara von Tisenhusen [Estonian: Kirjutajad], trans. by Irja Grönholm. Frankfurt / M .: dipa 1993. 186 pp.

This book has received many reviews, including a. in: Bad Lauterberger Tageblatt (October 4, 1993), Badische Latest Nachrichten (October 28, 1993), Münstersche Zeitung (December 3, 1993), Thüringische Landeszeitung, cultural supplement "Treffpunkt" (January 15, 1994), German General Sunday Gazette (4 March 1994) and in Romanführer 34, 1999, p. 93.

• I loved a Russian [Estonian: Ma armastasin venelast], trans. by Irja Grönholm. Blieskastel: Gollenstein 1998. 287 pp.

There are also some reviews of this book in the German feuilletons, u. a. in: Eulenspiegel No. 12/1998, Booksellers Today, Fachwissen Buchhandel und Verlag 4/99, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (June 30, 1998).

Extracts from novels

• I loved a Russian [Estonian: Ma armastasin venelast], trans. by Irja Grönholm. In: Estonia 1/1995, pp. 11-15.
• Path! [estn .: era], trans. by Irja Grönholm. In: Estonia 1/2001, pp. 53-57.
• Excerpts from the novel "Weg" . The tightness. [estn .: era], trans. by Irja Grönholm. In: Gate talks in the Max Liebermann House. "Literatur Express Europa" July 14, 2000, "Baltic Literatures" July 1, 2001. Berlin: Stiftung Brandenburger Tor 2001, pp. 59–62.
• Die Enge [estn .: era], trans. by Irja Grönholm. In: Lichtungen 2003, pp. 79–82.

About Maimu Berg

• Beate Biehl: "In Helsinki I am a werewolf". On some aspects of identity and alterity in Maimu Berg's novel Ma armastasin venelast - 'I loved a Russian'. In: Rogier Blokland, Cornelius Hasselblatt ( eds .): Finno-Ugrians and Indo-Europeans: Linguistic and Literary Contacts. Maastricht: Shaker 2002, pp. 34-38 (Studia Fenno-Ugria Groningana 2).
• Literature remains a secret [interview]. In: estonia 1/2001, pp. 46-52.

Private life

Maimu Berg is the mother of the Estonian lawyer Julia Laffranque (* 1974).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : Estonian Literature in the German Language 1784-2003. Bibliography of primary and secondary literature. Bremen: Hempen Verlag 2004, p. 33.
2. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : Estonian Literature in the German Language 1784-2003. Bibliography of primary and secondary literature. Bremen: Hempen Verlag 2004, p. 34.

Web links

• Literature by and about Maimu Berg in the catalog of the German National Library
• Estonian Literary Information Center curriculum vitae