Kevade (Kevad)

Spring (season). Also title of first volume of classic Estonian film trilogy – Kevade, Suvi & Sügis (with English subtitles), based on novels of the same name by Oskar Luts (1887-1953). He also wrote a fourth, Talve, which was not filmed. Note the first title, with an ‘e’?... It seems to be an alternative nominative found more poetic than its dull everyday form. Luts was a pharmacist and, while waiting for customers, wrote Kevade based on his own experiences at school. Several rejection letters later, he published it privately in 1912. It became a best-seller, was regularly reprinted, and translated into over 12 languages. Christmas, some say, wouldn’t be Christmas without it (or his Nukitsamees, or Bumpy, a children’s play about a little imp adapted from folk tales). See also Suve.