Kai Aareleid is an Estonian author and literary translator born in Tartu and sharing her life between Tallinn, Helsinki, London and travelling the world (and books).
She has had a background in the book world since early 2000s and has worked as a translator, editor, publisher and literary agent.
A prolific translator from Spanish, Finnish and English into her native Estonian, she has translated works by Bruce Chatwin, Javier Marías, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Enrique Vila-Matas, Roberto Bolaño, Isabel Allende, and Jorge Luis Borges, among others.
Her own novels are about memory and roots, family bonds, secrets and silences. She is known for her sparse and aquarellic style; short, miniature-like chapters, and her special relationship to photography, food and cityspaces, both past and present.
She has won numerous literary prizes and her works have been translated into several languages.