Jaanus Vaiksoo
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Jaanus Vaiksoo | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Vaiksoo in 2023 | |
| Born | 1967 (age 58–59) Paide, Estonia |
| Occupation | Children's writer, literary scholar, teacher, translator |
| Language | Estonian |
| Citizenship | Estonian |
| Alma mater | Tallinn Pedagogical Institute (now Tallinn University) |
| Genre | Children's literature, poetry, literary criticism |
| Notable works | King nr 39 Supipotikarneval Gailit ja Nipernaadi |
| Notable awards | Order of the White Star, V Class (2025) |
Jaanus Vaiksoo (born 1967) is an Estonian children's writer, literary scholar, teacher and translator.[1][2] He is best known for his writing for children; his book King nr 39 (2019) won the annual children's literature award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and was included in the international White Ravens catalogue for 2020.[3][4] In 2025 he was awarded the Order of the White Star, V Class.[5]
Alongside fiction, Vaiksoo has published literary scholarship on August Gailit and other Estonian authors, compiled literary anthologies, and translated works by Leo Perutz and Ernst Jandl into Estonian.[2][6]
Vaiksoo was born in Paide.[1][2] He attended Tallinn 32nd Secondary School and graduated from the former Tallinn Pedagogical Institute in Estonian language and literature in 1990, cum laude.[1][7] He later continued his studies in literary scholarship at the University of Greifswald, the University of Vienna and the University of Tampere.[1][2] In 1994 he received a master's degree with a thesis on reading models of Gailit's novel Toomas Nipernaadi, and expanded that research into his book Gailit ja Nipernaadi (1995).[1][2]
Career
Beginning in 1991, Vaiksoo lectured in Estonian literature at Tallinn University and also taught Estonian language and literature in several schools, later working at Rocca al Mare School.[2][7] An interview in Õpetajate Leht in 2001 described his move from university teaching to school teaching at Rocca al Mare.[8] From 2008 to 2012 he was the literary theory and criticism editor of the journal Keel ja Kirjandus,[9] and from 2015 he has served as editor-in-chief of the magazine Eesti Jahimees.[10] He has been a member of the Estonian Writers' Union since 2005.[7]
As a literary scholar, Vaiksoo has concentrated on Estonian literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as literary theory and German-language literature.[2][6] Besides Gailit ja Nipernaadi, he has compiled Visnapuu armastusest (2003), a selection of Henrik Visnapuu's love poetry, and Kuul pähe (2010), a collection of crime stories by Eduard Vilde.[2][6]
Children's literature
For the wider reading public, Vaiksoo is chiefly known as a writer for children.[2][6] His first children's book, Neli hommikut ja üks õhtu, was published in 2000, and he subsequently published more than twenty books of stories and poetry for children while also contributing to the children's magazine Täheke.[7][11] He has also co-written an ABC book with Sirje Toomla, written scripts for the ETV children's programme Saame kokku Tomi juures, and written the libretto for the boys' choir adventure opera Kastanid tulest by Andres Lemba.[7][12][13]
Among his most discussed books are the verse collection Supipotikarneval (2012) and the adventure novel King nr 39 (2019).[7][14] Supipotikarneval won the annual children's literature award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia for 2012,[15] while King nr 39 won the same award for 2019 and was also selected as a Good Children's Book.[3][16] In 2020 the book was included in the White Ravens catalogue published by the International Youth Library in Munich.[4] A stage adaptation by Piip and Tuut Theatre premiered in 2022.[17]
