Elin Cullhed is a Swedish writer whose novel "Euphoria," published in 2021, became the fiction event of the year in Sweden, earning it the prestigious August Prize. The novel centers on the American poet and writer Sylvia Plath.

In conversation with Cullhed, writer Eia Uus.

Watch the discussion, in English with Estonian subtitles, above. 

"Euphoria" is about the last year of Plath's life, which ended in suicide. Cullhed said that she was inspired to write the novel by the similarity between Plath's dilemmas and the central questions of her own life. The novel is about a brilliant poet suffering from clinical depression trying to balance creative and family life, striving for perfection in both. This task is only more complicated due to her famous and talented husband, poet Ted Hughes. Cullhed explores the disintegration of the marriage between two complex people and the controversial emotions it brings.

The HeadRead literary festival took place from May 24 to May 29. Over the course of five days, around 4,500 people visited the primary venue Writers' Union. The festival also took place in the Estonian Children's Literature Center, the Tallinn Central Library, Ait, Kellertheatre and KuKu Club.

In total, 11 author interviews recorded during the festival will be published on the Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) platform Jupiter, which is free for European viewers, and will be made available to the international audience via ERR's portals.

The series feature conversations between Mikhail Shishkin and Harri Tiido, Kristina Sabaliauskaitė and Linda Kaljundi, Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin and Sinéad Mac Aodha, Eero Epner and Maarja Undusk, Elin Cullhed and Eia Uus, Kate Mosse and Elisa Johanna Liiv, Andri Snær Magnason and Maarja Merivoo-Parro, Lilli Luuk and Carolina Pihelgas, Jussi Adler-Olsen and Krõõt Kaljusto-Munck, and Monique Roffey and Kaisa Ling, Anthony Horowitz and Jason Goodwin.

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