Urmas Vadi is one of Estonia’s most prominent contemporary writers, renowned as a novelist, screenwriter, and storyteller. Vadi has written film scripts and short stories (winning the prestigious Friedebert Tuglas Short Story Award in 2011). Fascinating in those genres, he has also written novels: the first one was Kirjad tädi Annele (Letters to Aunt Anne, 2010), a kind of fragmentary epistolary book. In 2012 appeared Tagasi Eestisse (Back to Estonia), which has been mentioned as one of the important novels of the year. 

In his novel Neverland (2017) Vadi addresses issues of identity. In 2019 appeared his novel Ballettmeister (Ballet Master) about the fate of the first president of the Republic of Estonia, Konstantin Päts, mixing the documentary with fantasy. This novel has been translated into Bulgarian (2021) and German (2023). 

For his novel Kuu teine pool (The Far Side of the Moon, 2023) Vadi has been awarded the 2024 Eduard Vilde Literary Award. The novel was the most borrowed Estonian book from libraries in 2025.   

Citizenship: Estonia
Discipline: Literature
Residence: Session 7 (25.09.-08.11.2026)