Jüri Talvet - Biography#
Jüri Talvet was born 1945 in Pärnu, Estonia. He graduated from the faculty of philology (specializing in English) from the University of Tartu. He received his PhD degree in Western literatures from Leningrad / Saint Petersburg University (1981). Since 1992 he is Chairing Professor (of world literature) at Tartu University.
He made his debut with a book of poems, Äratused (Awakenings; Tallinn, 1981). He has published dozens of essays and articles on world literature and the following books: Teekond Hispaaniasse (A Travel to Spain; Tallinn, 1985), Hispaaniast Ameerikasse (From Spain to America; Tallinn: 1992), Hispaania vaim (The Spanish Spirit; Tartu 1995), Ameerika märkmed ehk Kaemusi Eestist (American Notes, or Contemplations of Estonia; Tartu 2000), Sümbiootiline kultuur (Symbiotic Culture; Tartu 2005), Tõrjumatu äär (The Irrefutable Border; Tartu 2005), Juhan Liivi luule. Monograafia (Juhan Liiv's Poetry. A Monograph; Tallinn 2012), Kümme kirja Montaigne'ile. "Ise" ja "teine" (Ten Letters to Montaigne. "Self" and "Other"; Tartu 2014), Luulest (Of Poetry; Tartu2015) etc.
He has been awarded for his poetry, essays and criticism several times. He has taken part in important poetry festivals worldwide, e. g. the World Congress of P.E.N. in Guadalajara, Mexico (1996), Barcelona International Poetry Festival (Spain, Catalonia, 2008), Vilenica International Literature Festival (Slovenia, 2008), Passa Porta Literature Festival (Brussels, 2009), International Poetry Festival in La Paz and Oruro (Bolivia, 2010), International Poetry Festival Curtea de Arges Poetic Nights (Romania, 2010, 2011), Moncayo International Poetry Festival (Spain, Aragon, 2010), Sarajevo Poetry Marathon (Bosnia, 2012), VIIIth International Poetry Festival of Val-David (Canada, 2013), II Mihai Eminescu World Poetry Festival (Craiova, Romania, 2014), 5th Qinghai International Poetry Festival (Qinghai, China), 2015), etc.
Of his essay books, the following have appeared abroad: A Call for Cultural Symbiosis (Toronto, Canada: Guernica, 2005), Un enfoque simbiótico de la cultura posmoderna (Granada, Spain: Comares, 2009), Una crida a la simbiosi cultural (Valencia, Spain: Institut Alfons el Magnànim, 2009), Meditazioni da U. Per una simbiosi culturale. Trad. Pietro U. Dini, Novi Liguri: Joker Edizioni, 2015.
