“On 28 May 2025, in the gracious setting of the British Ambassador’s residence in Tallinn, we celebrated the launch of Silverwhite — the first-ever English translation of Lennart Meri’s iconic book Hõbevalge”, writes Alexander Tskihilov on his Facebook page.
This project was born a few years ago during a conference at Cambridge University, where Lennart Meri was repeatedly mentioned as a statesman and thinker — yet few of the international scholars present had ever read his literary work, simply because it wasn’t available in English. That realization sparked a conversation with Mart Meri, and together we began the process of bringing Hõbevalge to the English-speaking world.
The event brought together an extraordinary group of guests, including the President of Estonia Alar Karis, members of the diplomatic corps, scholars, and cultural figures — all united by a shared appreciation for Meri’s intellectual legacy and for the deeper story of Estonia that Silverwhite tells.
I want to express my deep gratitude to translator Adam Cullen, whose mastery of language and cultural context made this exceptionally complex work accessible to English readers. My thanks also go to the team at Hurst Publishers for their outstanding work in bringing the book to print.
I would also like to thank the representatives of the Cambridge University Centre for Geopolitics, James Oates and Rt. Hon. Charles Clarke, for their kind assistance in coordinating the management of the translation project.
Finally, I am sincerely grateful to Ambassador Ross Allen and the British Embassy Tallinn for their warm and generous hospitality in hosting this memorable event.
It is my hope that this translation helps more people discover the depth, poetry, and vision of Lennart Meri’s thought — and through it, a richer understanding of Estonia itself.
Alexander Tskihilov
Hurst Publishers: https://tinyurl.com/42x6bwu9
