Tõnu Õnnepalu

4. detsember, neljapäev.

Language: estonian

Translations: french (4 décembre, jeudi), german (4. Dezember, Donnerstag.)

4. detsember, neljapäev.

Surm, sa hea, oled see,
kes eluga meid
kõige kindlamalt seob.
Täna sadas jälle lund.
Helbed olid suured ja lendasid,
nagu oleks jälle kevad.
Nagu oleks jälle kevad:
minu salajases kehas
keerlevad mustavad veed.
Ma olen õnnelik,
et surelik.
Selles vähemalt
olen ma nii
nagu Sina.

Tõnu Õnnepalu

photo © private

* 13.09.1962, Tallinn, Estonia
lives in: Hiiumaa, Estonia

Tõnu Õnnepalu is one of the most interesting and internationally known Estonian authors. He has published works under the pseudonyms of Emil Tode and Anton Nigov. Õnnepalu made his debut in 1985, with a poetry collection entitled Jõeäärne maja (A Riverside House). In 1993 he published the novel Piiririik (Border State, under the pseudonym Emil Tode); the novel has been translated into 20 languages.

Born in 1962 in Tallinn, Õnnepalu has studied biology at the University of Tartu. He has worked as a teacher of biology and chemistry, as an editor in the literary magazine Vikerkaar and in the Foreign Ministry of Estonia, as the director of the Estonian Institute in Paris. Now he is a freelance writer and translator.

photo © private

In all his books and under different pseudonyms, Õnnepalu seeks the answers to various crucial human questions covering love and loneliness, sexuality, social life and religious freedom, power over others and betrayal. He is exceptional in writing about nature.

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