Mart Juur dedicates new book to Anu Saagim

Writer Mart Juur has dedicated his new book, Memedova Back in Estonia, to Anu Saagim, who once thought he did not like her, ERR reported. Juur said the dedication was sincere because, like the book’s protagonist, Saagim calls things by their proper names.

The book’s central character is Anne Memedova, a fictional columnist created by Juur. Saagim said this was not the first time a book had been dedicated to her, but previous dedications in Finland had been “very sexual”. She declined to discuss them, adding that she might do so one day in her autobiography.

Saagim and Juur got to know each other while working together on Kodukäijad. She recalled that Juur had previously written for Eesti Ekspress newspaper’s humour column Kranaat, which featured a character called Aju Saagim, based on her. “We didn’t know each other. To him, I was somewhere at the bottom, some kind of rubbish. When we met while working on Kodukäijad, he was shocked that I had a brain and could say completely sensible things,” she said, laughing.

Juur told Saagim that Memedova is the kind of person who does what she wants. Saagim said Juur seemed to have formed a similar impression of her, adding that people in Estonia are not usually encouraged to behave that way and are often criticised for it.

Speaking to the Ringvaade programme by video call, Juur said he had tried to imagine who could be as much like Memedova as, or even more than, the character. He thought of two public figures. “One is young and still has room to grow. Anu is also young, but in full bloom,” he said, explaining that he dedicated the book to her “sincerely and from the heart”.

Juur said Saagim was someone who spoke as she saw things, dared to call things by their proper names and was willing to tell people off when she thought they deserved it.

He said he drew material for Memedova’s stories from many sources: observing people, reading widely and seeing what they worried about online. Among his influences were the television series Married… with Children and Sex and the City, the Bridget Jones films and Hugh Grant romantic comedies. Juur added that the video call was the first of his life; for much of it, he showed viewers his ear.