Nikolai Baturin is an award-winning novelist and playwright in Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

.

Biography and career

Baturin was born in Suislepa, Tarvastu Parish

Tarvastu Parish

Tarvastu Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 4,216 and an area of 409.00 km².-Settlements:Small boroughMustlaVillages...

, Viljandi County

Viljandi County

Viljandi County , is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties. 55,657 people live in Viljandi County – constituting 4.2% of the total population in Estonia ....

. His father was a fisherman. After attending a high school, military service took him for five years to the Caspian

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

 oil-fields and the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

; for fifteen years he was a hunter in the Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

n taiga. For six years he participated in various geological expeditions.

Baturin debuted with a collection of poetry, Maa-alused järved (Underground Lakes, 1968), in the last wave of the "cassette" generation in the 1960s. Besides fiction he has written drama, poetry, screenplays and essays. He has illustrated his own books and produced his own plays. His works have been translated into Russian, Ukrainian and Lithuanian languages. He became a member of the Estonian Writers' Union

Estonian Writers' Union

The Estonian Writers Union , is a professional association of Estonian writers and literary critics.-History:...

 in 1973.

Baturin is presently living at his home farm by Lake Võrtsjärv, far from the turbulent urban literary life.

Collections of poetry

• Blue Reign, 1990 (4000).
• The Silence of the Pole. The Pole of Silence, 1980 (3000).
• The Gallery, 1977 (4000)
• The Flight of the Stork, 1975 (5000).
• From the Squares and from the Fields, 1972 (4000).
• The Lyrefish, 1972 (4000).
• Underground Lakes, 1968 (12,000).

Novels, short stories and prose poems

• The Centaur, 2003
• Apocalypse Anno Domini, 1997 (1000)
• Caught in a Vicious Circle, 1996 (2000).
• Timid Nikas, the Comber of Lions' Manes, 1993 (10,000).
• A Murder at the Lighthouse, 1993 (16,000)
• The Heart of the Bear, 1989 (16,000).
• Early Ice, 1985 (25,000).
• Forests Spreading Far and Wide:a prose poem, 1981 (5000)
• Somersaults (prose poem, short story, drama), 1980 (8000)
• Echo Finds, 1977 (28,000).
• King of the King's Cabin, 1976 (28,000).
• The Oasis, 1973 (23,000).
• At an Early Late Hour: a prose poem, 1973 (20,000).

Screenplays

• Timid Nikas, the Comber of Lions' Manes, 1999.
• A Murder at the Lighthouse, 1994.
• The Heart of the Bear
  The Heart of the Bear
  The Heart of the Bear is a 2001 Estonian film directed by Arvo Iho. It was Estonia's submission to the 74th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee....
  
  (in seven instalments), 1993.
• Summer Snowstorms, 1992.

Screenplays

• Timid Nikas, the Comber of Lions' Manes, 1999.
• A Murder at the Lighthouse, 1994.
• The Heart of the Bear (in seven instalments), 1993.
• Summer Snowstorms, 1992.

Dramas

• A Ghost in the Cupboard, 1993 (5000).
• The Diamond Path, 1986 (5000)
• A Dwarf on the Cothurns

Sources

• Estonian Literature Information Center