»A Devil, a Kratt, a Trupibut and Others. Meeting with Andrus Kivirähk«
Estonian
Host: Anna Michalczuk-Podlecki
In Estonian folklore, the devil was known by various nicknames, such as Old Spitfire, Old Crosspatch and even Old Bachelor. It is clearly seen that what all his emanations had in common was advanced age. Kratts were creatures that people made from non-essential objects in order to breathe into them souls ransomed from the devil and make them domestic helpers. A Trupibut, on the other hand, was a ghost – powerful and terrible; so terrible that anyone who saw it dropped dead. This peculiar trinity appears – along with other protagonists – in Andrus Kivirähk’s novel Rehepapp ekh November. We will talk to the author about the importance of folklore for contemporary literature, the influence of fairy tales and fables on our collective imagination, as well as about the difference between the real and the imaginary, if there is any.
»An Exit from the Dream House. Meeting with Carmen Maria Machado«
English
Host: Aldona Kobus
According to Carmen Maria Machado, we lack a suitable literary genre with which we can tell the story of violence in a relationship between two women. In a world where homophobic and transphobic attacks occur constantly, it is extremely difficult to address such a topic. In addition to social obstacles, there are also literary problems. Machado argues that language is an element that produces two kinds of effect: creative and destructive. How, then, to speak about this kind of violence? How to deal with social obstacles? How to make literature capacious and at the same time precise enough to fully express a painful experience, while simultaneously pointing out its causes and consequences?
