Call for life stories
We invite you to participate in a new life stories competition: The Republic of Estonia is 100. My love and life!
Every person is an expert in at least this one field – one’s life story. Every person is history, initially for one’s children and grandchildren, but also for all future generations. A life story is an imprint, a trail of life left behind in the form of memories.
We invite you to write down your life stories in Estonia and abroad. Authors who have already written their stories may also write a new version of their story to enter in this competition. Pseudonyms are also accepted. Please write your story in 10-20 pages.
The chosen life stories will be published for the Republic of Estonia’s 100th Anniversary of Independence in the book “Eesti rahva elulood” (Life Stories of Estonians) published by Tänapäev. There will be awards for the best life stories! All life stories will be preserved at the Estonian Literary Museum in the Estonian Cultural History Archives, as well as with our Canadian-Estonian collaborators at the Estonian Studies Centre/VEMU Archives in Toronto, Canada.
Poet, Kristiina Ehin, is the spokesperson for this competition.
Some questions to focus your thoughts: Think about your life now and in the past. Write down how the changing world had affected you and your loved one’s lives.
How important have the people around you, love and the emotional world been to you?
What has the Republic of Estonia given to you and your loved ones?
What has the country taken?
What memories do you and your loved ones have of the events that occurred during the transitional periods in Estonia?
What types of roles have you had to play in your lifetime?
What kinds of choices have you faced?
How have you tolerated a double life?
What fears have you faced?
What do you live for?
Write about your experiences and do not hesitate to intertwine the past with the present. Discuss the good and the bad times in your life and the world around you.
Please send in your submissions by December 1, 2016.
By post: ELULOOD, Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum, Vanemuise 42, Tartu 51003
E-mail: elulood@kirmus.ee
Canadian Estonians may send their submissions to:
By post: Estonian Studies Centre/VEMU, 310 Bloor St. W., Toronto ON M5S 1W4
E-mail: piret.noorhani@vemu.ca Estonian Literary Museum / Estonian Cultural History Archives and Estonian Folklore Archives Estonian Life Stories Association Estonian Studies Centre/VEMU