The Finnish Institute for Children’s Literature: WORD BRIDGES – A Bridge from Pirkanmaa to the Tartu Region

The Word Bridges project will showcase the versatile children’s literature selection and know-how of the twin cities Tampere and Tartu.

The aim of the project is to bring together authors and illustrators of children’s literature from Finland and Estonia to get to know each other, network and develop common ideas for cooperation between neighbouring countries in the field of children’s literature.

The project includes a workshop for professionals where writers and illustrators from Tampere area and Estonia will meet each other in Tartu in the autumn of 2023. The two-day workshop is led by authors of children’s literature who will lead the participants to network, get to know each other’s work and work methods, as well as the children’s book culture and ways of working in neighbouring countries. The instructors are writer Anna Elina Isoaro from Finland and illustrator-writer Kristi Kangilaski from Estonia. The language of the workshops is English.

In 2024 an exhibition and a seminar related to the project will be organized. In the seminar, the children’s literature of both regions and cooperation are presented to a wider audience, e.g., for publishers and others operating in the field.

The project started in 2022 and will culminate in 2024, when Tartu will be the European Capital of Culture.

The project will be implemented by the Finnish Institute for Children’s Literature in cooperation with the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre, Pirkkalaiskirjailijat ry and Kuvittajat ry.