Doris Kareva Biography

Doris Kareva (born November 28, 1958 in Tallinn) is one of the most beloved poets in Estonia. She has published fourteen collections of poetry, one of short stories and one collection of essays.

She has been a mentor for young poets, and has translated – with passion – kindred spirits of hers, Anna Akhmatova, W. H. Auden, Samuel Beckett, Emily Dickinson, Kahlil Gibran, Kabir, Rumi, Shakespeare and Irish contemporary poetry. Her own poetry has been translated into many languages, for example the full collection Shape of Time (Aja kuju) published in the UK in 2010 (in Estonian in 2005). As a literary stipendiate, Doris Kareva has worked in Sweden, Greece, United States, Flanders, Italy and Ireland, and presented her works in many countries. Kareva's poetry has been staged and many times set to music. Working now as the literary editor, she was for sixteen years the Secretary-General of the Estonian National Commission for UNESCO.