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Ivar Ivask facts for kids

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Ivar Vidrik Ivask (born December 17, 1927, in Riga; died September 23, 1992, in Fountainstown, Ireland) was an important Estonian poet and a scholar who studied literature. He spent most of his life outside Estonia, sharing his love for words and stories with the world.

Early Life and Journeys

Ivar Ivask was born in 1927. When he was a teenager, a big war, World War II, was happening. Because of the war, he had to leave his home country, Estonia, in 1944. He first moved to Germany.

After a few years, in 1949, he moved to the United States. He lived there for a long time, building his career and family. Later in his life, in 1991, he moved to Ireland, where he passed away.

A Professor of Languages

Ivar Ivask was very good at languages and literature. He worked as a professor at the University of Oklahoma in the United States. A professor is a teacher at a university. He taught about modern languages and different types of literature. He especially focused on literature written in the Spanish language.

Helping World Literature

One of Ivar Ivask's biggest contributions was helping people around the world learn about different writers and their books. From 1967 to 1991, he was the main editor for an international magazine called World Literature Today. This magazine shared stories and poems from writers all over the globe.

He also helped create and run two important programs connected to the magazine:

  • The Neustadt International Prize for Literature: This is a special award given to a writer every two years. It's like a Nobel Prize for literature, but for writers from any country.
  • The Puterbaugh Conferences on World Literature: These were meetings where writers from different countries, especially those who wrote in French or Spanish, could come together and share their ideas.

Through these programs, Ivar Ivask helped many talented writers become known to more readers around the world.

Family Life

Ivar Ivask was married to Astrid Ivask. She was also a talented person, a poet and translator from Latvia. They shared a love for literature and languages.

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