Kriitikavälja rikkusest, vahelduseks. Eesti kirjanduskriitika aastatel 2024–2025

On the richness of the critical field, for a change: Estonian literary criticism in 2024–2025 This article provides an overview of literary criticism published in 2024 and 2025 in the periodicals Akadeemia, Keel ja Kirjandus, Looming, Müürileht, Sirp, Vikerkaar and Värske Rõhk, all issued by SA Kultuurileht. The analysis draws on key statistical indicators. The sample comprises 475 reviews in total, of which 89 address translated works and 124 discuss non-fiction titles or new editions of older literature. The primary focus of the article is on reviews of contemporary Estonian fiction, which account for 278 items in the sample. Of these, 36% concern poetry and 60.4% prose; 35.6% of the reviewers are men and 63.3% women, while among the authors of the works reviewed, 41.7% are men and 49.3% women. Compared with the situation seven years ago, the proportion of women in both categories has increased significantly, and the earlier imbalance between reviews written by women about men and those written by men about women has largely evened out. In addition to presenting general statistics, the survey outlines the distinctive styles of the most frequently published critics and examines the reception of the most widely reviewed works. During the period under consideration, the most prolific reviewer of Estonian fiction was Sveta Grigorjeva (13 reviews), followed by Vilja Kiisler (9) and Ave Taavet (9). The work that received the greatest number of reviews was Carolina Pihelgas’ Lõikejoon (“The Cut Line”) (6 reviews), the only title to be reviewed in all the publications covering fiction. The article also highlights other notable critics and individual reviews deserving of attention, supporting the author’s view that the Estonian critical field is diverse and in good health.