Piret Raud’s collection of short stories can be classified as magical realism. Estonian critics have rightly called them a valley of horror, as fantasy and reality intertwine here, and the seeming absurdity reveals a second layer. In most of the stories, we deal with the conflict between individuality and collectivity, and the inability to reconcile these oppositions adds a fatalistic tone to the stories. “I hope that the world created by Piret Raud will also fascinate Polish readers. The novellas are contemporary, but rooted in Estonian culture and tradition, realistic and unreal at the same time, real frikas – like the eclairs that the narrator of the title story enjoys. Enjoy!” – Marta Perlikiewicz (from the Afterword).

Participants: Piret Raud – Author, Marta Perlikiewicz – Translator, Agnieszka Smarzewska – Moderator

Piret Raud (born 1971 in Tallinn) is an Estonian writer and illustrator. In 1995 she graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a degree in graphic design and initially pursued this path. However, her true passion turned out to be literature. After her literary debut, Raud quickly became the most famous and most translated children’s book author in Estonia. She collaborates with both Estonian and foreign publishers, including Thames & Hudson in the UK and Éditions du Rouergue in France. Since 2018, Raud has broadened her literary horizons and started writing primarily for an older audience. As an author and illustrator, she has won critical acclaim and numerous awards, and her books have been included in the White Ravens catalog and the IBBY Honor List. In 2022, she received the prestigious Estonian Cultural Endowment Literary Award for her collection of short stories “Nimepanija”. Five of her books have been published in Poland in translations by Anna Michalczuk-Podlecki.