The Baltic Assembly Prize in Literature was awarded to Kai Aareleid

The Baltic Assembly Prize in Literature was awarded to Estonian writer and poet Kai Aareleid for her novel “Pacific Ocean”.

Deputy Head of the Estonian delegation to the Baltic Assembly Sven Sester said that “Pacific Ocean” was a novel of our region in the direct sense of the word, because its activities take place in Tallinn, Riga and St. Petersburg. Those people of the Baltics whose memories reach back to the restoration of the independence of the Baltic States can also find many things they remember in the book. “Besides telling the love stories of three women and the stories of three cities, it is also a story of the secrets of the times and of not daring to speak out, of trying to establish the borders between silence and lies, showing how deep the effects of the lack of freedom of expression and taboos can run. At the same time, the novel is not depressing as Kai Aareleid has brought out the beauty of those grey times,” Sester added, and expressed hope that the book would be translated into Latvian and Lithuanian soon.

The Baltic Assembly prize in the Arts was awarded to Lithuanian painter Šarunas Sauka and the Baltic Assembly Prize in Science to Latvian historians Gustavs Strenga, Andris Levāns, Renāte Berga and Laura Kreigere-Liepiņa for their monograph on the 16th and 17th century manuscripts of the Jesuit College of Riga.

Estonia nominated Peeter Laurits for the Prize in the Arts for his outstanding work as an artist and for the project “Biotopia”, and Hilkka Hiiop and Tiina-Mall Kreem for the Prize in Science for the project “Christian Ackermann – Tallinn’s Phidias, Arrogant and Talented”.

The Baltic Assembly Prize consists of a monetary prize, a certificate and a statuette, which are presented every year at the Baltic Assembly session. This year, the prize ceremony will be held on 28 October in Riga, Latvia.

The members of the Joint Jury of the BA Prizes were artists and experts from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia: Elīna Līce, Ilze Jansone, Andrejs Krasņikovs, Indrek Mesikepp, Kadi-Ell Tähiste, Linda Lainvoo, Eugenijus Ališanka, Ramutė Rachlevičiūtė and Valdemaras Razumas.

The Baltic Assembly has been awarding the Prizes in literature, the arts and science since 1994. The aim of the prizes is to promote the outstanding achievements of the Baltic States.

Source: Parliament of Estonia