Anu Allas (b. 1977) is an Estonian art historian and writer. In fact, the public – or at least a large part of it – still knows Allas primarily as an art historian whose particular interest lies in recent Estonian art history, and who has interpreted and advanced the Estonian art scene through her work at the Estonian Academy of Arts and KUMU. In 2016, she received the annual award of the Estonian Association of Art Historians and Curators for her research and promotion of Eastern European and Soviet-era Estonian art. Since last year’s Estonian Writers’ Union novel competition, Allas is also an award-winning writer, as her debut novel Capitulation for Beginners (Allaandmine algajatele) won third place in the competition. It is a playfully constructed autofictional work that simultaneously deals with the writing of a novel and describes the novel being written, thereby allowing the author to move between different genres. In this way, Allas creates a layered textual surface that is at once fragmentary and fluid, yet clearly reflective of the spirit of our time – the novel’s female characters are determined and capable, overshadowing the male characters.
Anu Allas
