Satu “Hildur” Rämö Visits Tallinn

Text Timo Raussi

Photo WSOY / Björgvin Hilmarsson

At the end of May, from 27–31 May, the HeadRead literary festival held in Tallinn will host Satu Rämö, currently one of the brightest international rising stars of Nordic blue crime fiction.

The translation rights to the five novels about the Icelandic detective Hildur—created by what has in recent years been by far Finland’s most internationally successful author—and her colleague Jakob, who clicks his knitting needles amid murder dramas, have been sold to 29 countries in just three years, including the United States and the United Kingdom. The stories have also been adapted for the stage, and more recently into a TV series with production costs exceeding one million euros per episode.

Rämö, who has lived in Iceland for some time and began a writing collaboration in February with local crime author Lilja Sigurdardóttir, will arrive in Estonia and take the interview stage at the HeadRead festival on Saturday, 30 May at 15:00. The public, free author event will take place in Tallinn’s Old Town at the Writers House, or Tallinna Kirjanike Maja, on Harju Street.

Before her, other Finnish authors appearing at the festival include Maija Kajanto at the same venue on 29 May at 16:00, and Timo Parvela at the Children’s Literature Centre at Pikk 73 on Wednesday, 27 May at 11:00 and 12:30.

The HeadRead, or “Good Lines”, festival is organised by writers, publishers, and translators based in Estonia. Over five days, literature enthusiasts can discover nearly 40 authors from Estonia and around the world, and explore their works. In addition to interviews, book presentations, and premieres, the festival programme includes literary walking tours and panel discussions. The programme and author introductions, free for the public, are available here.

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events HeadRead literary festival Literature nordic blue Satu Rämö Tallinn