On September 19th, VEMU Estonian Museum Canada hosted “Turning Pages Through Time: A Seminar Dedicated to 500 Years of the Estonian Book and Literary Culture.” Taking place at Tartu College in Toronto, the day-long program brought together scholars, translators, writers, and community members to reflect on the Estonian written word as it has grown over the centuries.
To start, VEMU’s chief archivist Piret Noorhani spoke on “Literature, Libraries, and Legacy.” She reminded the audience that Estonian cultural identity has always rested on language and education, noting how “the Estonian language is our secret weapon.” She detailed VEMU’s role in preserving this legacy, with a collection of over 22,000 titles, the oldest being an 1825 New Testament. Since 2011, VEMU has sent eight shipments (more than 3,100 boxes) of books back to Estonia.
Anneli Andre-Barrett, an educator and senior mentor at PEN Canada Writers in Exile, framed her talk by contrasting the decline of reading habits in North America with the enthusiasm of Masai teens she has taught in eastern Africa. Estonian American author Kaia Gallagher recounted her quest to reconstruct her family’s flight from Soviet-occupied Estonia in 1944, combining personal story with the larger historical record of occupation and survival. Dr. Kadri Tüür presented a new anthology, Saare meesluule almanahh (2025), collecting poems by men from Saare County. Traditionally, poetry was considered women’s domain, while men “plowed fields, fixed cars… and didn’t write poetry.” Yet her project revealed dozens of men, from ship captains to excavator operators, secretly writing poems.
After lunch, translator and poet Adam Cullen spoke on his English edition of Lennart Meri’s Hõbevalge/ Silverwhite. Cullen explained how Meri integrated folklore, archaeology, and diplomacy into a narrative bridging Estonian and European cultural history. University of Toronto historian Professor Andres Kasekamp continued by addressing the difficulties of writing Baltic history. University of Toronto Professor Ann Komaromi presented her research on samizdat periodicals. To end the day, University of Toronto researcher Philipp Lekmanov introduced the “Dissident Legacy Project”, an international initiative cataloging memoirs written by dissidents in Eastern Europe.
Following the mentally stimulating day, the opening of the exhibit “Estonian Book 500” took place at Petro Jacyk Central & East European Resource Centre on the 3rd floor of Robarts Library. The exhibit featured Estonian language books found at the library and was produced by the Robarts Library. It was compiled by Ksenya Kiebuzinski from Robarts aided by Dr. Kadri Tüür, Visiting Lecturer of Estonian Language and Literature at the University of Toronto.
The following day, Tartu College held its 55th anniversary event. “Tartu College is brilliant today. A good child. A five through and through. It’s 55, along with our written language, which is 500 years old,” said VEMU Chief Archivist Piret Noorhani in her speech at the beginning of the Tartu College celebration on September 20. Following her were welcoming words from Tartu College board member Anne Agur, VEMU board chairman Tiit Romet, and consul Tiina Tarkus from the Estonian Embassy in Ottawa. The latter also mentioned the violation of Estonian airspace by three Russian fighter jets the previous day and that NATO air forces responded quickly to this; as well as Finnish and Italian air force fighters. Tartu College’s general manager Linda Karuks gave an overview of the renovation work at the building in recent years.
Tartu College’s letters of appreciation for their unwavering contribution were received by: former Tartu College president Jaan Meri and former vice-chairman of the council Peeter Einola, long-time leaders of the Tartu College lending library Alliki Arro and Vaike Rannu, and photographer Peeter Põldre.
A short film summarized and commemorated Dr. Vello Soots’s diverse contributions to the Estonian community and nature conservation in Ontario and beyond. The Dr. Vello Soots memorial lecture was presented by renowned American born translator Adam Cullen, who has now lived in Estonia for almost 20 years. Adam’s presentation explained how he had, so to speak, “discovered” Estonia in the first place, how he thoroughly learned the language, and how his career as a translator began. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Adam is “proof that it is possible to learn Estonian without grandmothers.”
The lecture was followed by a festive gathering along with a mini book sale and a bilingual poster exhibition in the form of a comic book, brought from Estonia. It’s called “Estonian Book 500”, the images and text of which were created by Joonas Sildre. Alongside this, you can also view a selection of the oldest books in VEMU’s collections.
# Both events have been recounted in more detail in their respective stories by Vincent Teetsov and Riina Kindlam in Eesti Elu/Estonian Life #38, 2025.