Estonian literature

A rich oral tradition of folk poetry from the 14th to the 17th century gave rise to a strongly poetic written literature in the 19th century. Estonian legend supplied F R Kreutzwald (1803–1882) with the basis for his synthetic epic Kalevipoeg (1857–61), which in turn inspired the new romantic nationalist movement in which the poets Lydia Koidula (1843–1886) and Anna Haava (1864–1957) were prominent.

Realist writing in the later 19th century, typified by the novels of Eduard Vilde (1865–1933) and the later work of Juhan Liiv (1864–1913), was superseded by the Neo-Romanticism of ‘Young Estonia’, led by the scholar-poet Gustav Suits (1883–1956). This was followed from 1917 by the less formalist lyricism of the ‘Siuru’ group, particularly Marie Under (1883– ), in its turn yielding to the intellectual aestheticism of the ‘Arbujal’ group in the 1930s, including Betti Alver (1906– ).

From 1945 until the 1960s Stalinist discipline caused Estonian writing to be dominated by exiles, often based in Stockholm. A later resurgence of writing was presided over by the widely translated historical novelist Jaan Kross (1920–2007).