Latvian Literature

19/12/2025

May the coming year bring at least a few things that truly inspire and captivate you. Wishing you bright, peaceful Christmas and a productive New Year! 🤍🎅

19/12/2025

👏 What a joyful and heart-warming way to close the year! 🎉
We are absolutely delighted to share this wonderful news with you! 💛📚

💐Our sincerest congratulations to our incredible translator Kaija Straumanis on this major 🇺🇸 PEN America translation nomination !🏆

As Kaija beautifully puts it:
“Laura’s THE RIVER means so much to me. To see it on the 2026 PEN Translation Prize longlist, and in such good company, is thrilling—and a cherry on top of this year!” 🍒

Laura Vinogradova "The River"🌊(Upe) was translated by Kaija and published in the USA 🇺🇸 in 2025 by Open Letter Books, bringing Latvian literature 🇱🇻 to new readers across the ocean 🌍

We are so proud, so thankful and so happy with you Kaija Straumanis! 💙🎊

Originally published by Zvaigzne ABC.

18/12/2025

“And so "Lysergsäureblues" is, from beginning to end, a productively disorienting book—one in which, text by text, you become strangely at home in a way that is hard to pin down, without ever being able to get too comfortable. And that, after all, is one of the most beautiful states one can find oneself in—and one from which something can be made, best of all starting today.”

Frank Keil writes about Vilis Kasims’ book "Lysergsäureblues" (Lizergīnblūzs) in Männerwege magazine.

Read the full review here:
https://www.maennerwege.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Keil_Schmitter_Kluy_Olafsson_Kasim.pdf

Translated by Lil Reif. Published in Germany by Edition Fototapeta.🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪
Originally published by Orbīta.

18/12/2025

📚 Last year brought us many surprises and one of those was this wonderful publication in the Dutch language 🇳🇱 - 31 years after the book was first published in Latvia 🇱🇻.
📖 Zigmunds Skujiņš "The Bed with the Golden Leg" (Het bed met de gouden p**t, Gulta ar zelta kāju).

In the Netherlands, the book was met with praise and strong interest, leading to four print runs in a single year!!!📖.

We are deeply grateful to the translator Brenda Lelie 🙏✍️ for her outstanding translation and to every single reader who discovered and embraced this book ❤️.

Literary critic Gerdien Verschoor discusses the novel, reflecting the continued and growing popularity of family history narratives
📜Verschoor writes: “They don’t only tell personal stories, but are about people who are looking for meaning through the collective memory.”
Published by Uitgeverij Prometheus.

17/12/2025

📚 “What makes this novel powerful, in my view, is precisely what makes it challenging to read at first: the stylistic and structural choices. [...] So yes, had I not pushed myself a little at the start, I would have missed this masterpiece of a novel—sensitive, so powerful, and good grief! no one seems to talk about it...”

Julien Delorme on Substack writes about Inga Gaile’s novel "Belles de Sang" (Skaistās). The book, beautifully translated from Latvian by Nicolas Auzanneau, was published by Editions Emmanuelle Collas (originally by Dienas Grāmata).

... assorti de quelques considérations sur le fait de ne pas lâcher trop vite les livres... parfois

17/12/2025

📚At the end of November, Latvian writer Laura Vinogradova and her translator Rafael Martín Calvo visited Spain as part of their book tour 🇱🇻 🇪🇸.
In Madrid, they had the wonderful opportunity to sit down for an interview with the Spanish culture magazine Librújula and journalist David Valiente 🎙️📰.

They talked about Laura’s path to becoming a writer ✍️, about loss and about the questions her book raises regarding our past and present 💭🖤.
A moving conversation we’re very happy to share.

"While I was reading the book, one question kept circling in my mind and I would like to ask it: can we human beings escape from our past and, even more importantly, from the present?", asked D.Valiente
Laura: "After my brother’s death, I tried to escape from my reality. But my loved ones gave me tremendous support. In today’s society, we tend to neglect other people’s problems, and I don’t think that is the right attitude. Every individual has their own particularities and difficulties, but we should not leave anyone behind; rather, we should accompany one another on that journey, exhausting even the very last reserves of energy if necessary."

"La Hermana del Rio" (Upe) is published in Spain by La Tortuga Búlgara. The tour was supported by European Union Prize for Literature.
Originally published by Zvaigzne ABC.

Embajada de Letonia en España

La editorial La Tortuga Búlgara publica la novela de la escritora letona, Laura Vinogradova, "La hermana del río", Premio de Literatura de la Unión Europea 2021.

16/12/2025

Žurnāliste Līva Karlsone no portāla latviesi.com viesojas Embassy of Latvia in Greece/ Latvijas vēstniecība Grieķijā telpās, kurās atrodas arī Latvijas grāmatu apmaiņas biedrība. Nesen pie viņiem ciemojusies bērnu grāmatu autore Anete Melece, kurai grieķu valodā iznākušas divas grāmatas – “Pazudušais miedziņš” un “Kiosks”. Tikmēr Jānis Joņevs grāmatas “Jelgava 94” tulkotājs grieķu valodā – Sotiris Vandis – stāsta par savām saiknēm ar Latviju, kas nu jau kļuvušas pavisam spēcīgas – viņš ir ieguvis arī Latvijas pilsonību. 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

16/12/2025

We are delighted to see that Nora Ikstena’s novel "O leite da mãe" (Mātes piens) is reaching readers in yet another translation – this time in Portuguese! 🇧🇷✨

The book has been published by the Brazilian publishing house Editora Rua do Sabão and translated from Italian by Adriana Zoudine. 📖Originally published by Dienas Grāmata in 2015.

15/12/2025

We are very proud to share that one of the five jury members of next year’s Bologna Children's Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition 2026 is a representative from Latvia — Alīse Nīgale, head of the publishing house liels un mazs! Good luck, Alīse! 🇱🇻📚🎨

15/12/2025

“I had been waiting for the translation of Latvian poet Arvis Viguls’ fourth poetry book, "Flea Circus", for quite some time. The book stands out for the sharpness and unexpectedness of its imagery and for the narrative quality of its poems.”🕷

Lithuanian poet and literary critic Linas Daugėla has published a review of Arvis Viguls’ poetry collection "Blusų cirkas" (Flea Circus) in the cultural magazine Literatūra ir menas. 🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹

The book was published by Baziliskas and translated by Dominykas Norkūnas. Originally published by Neputns.📚

Naujos verstinės poezijos pastaruoju metu pasirodė nemažai, ypač prieš „Poetinį Druskininkų rudenį“. Versti ir jau klasika tapę autoriai, ir lietuvių skaitytojams nauji balsai. Apžvelgsiu tris šiųmetes naujienas, išsiskiriančias kitoniškumu ir turinčias makabriškumo prieskonį.

12/12/2025

📚 Wonderful literary news from Literatūra ir menas magazine ! 🇱🇹🇱🇻
A Lithuanian literature magazine has just published a new translation of the Latvian poem “Nida” - and it just so happens that today is the poet’s birthday! 🥳🎂
Huge congratulations to Inga Pizāne 💐❤️
Beautifully translated into Lithuanian by Arvydas Valionis.

👉 Have a read and enjoy! 🌊📖
https://literaturairmenas.lt/poezija/inga-piz%C4%81ne-nida

Kviečiame skaityti Nidoje rezidavusius latvių poetės Ingos Pizāne eilėraštį.

„Žmogus – tas vienišas pusiasalis,
Kaip ir tu, Nida, pasiekiama per keturias minutes
Keltu per sąsiaurį už 1,5 euro bilietą –
Visi lekia apžiūrėti, o kuris norės čia pasilikti visam gyvenimui?
Sielojasi bilietų į vieną pusę pardavėja.“

Iš latvių kalbos vertė Arvydas Valionis. Nuorodą į visą tekstą rasite komentaruose.

Poetės asmeninio archyvo nuotr.

12/12/2025

🇩🇪📚 We’re happy to see new reviews coming in! And this time it’s for Laura Vinogradova German translation of "Sanna und Lia" (Vārnas).

💬Jürg Kaiser says: “Laura Vinogradova has created a poignant novel about origins, exclusion and the search for belonging with great emotional depth and literary clarity.”
He highlights the cross-generational story, the shadow sides of growing up and the internal battles of Sanna and Andrejs, and the sensitive, nuanced portrayal of Roma identity. It is all delivered with quiet intensity and psychological depth. 🌫️

Translated with by Britta Ringer, published by Mediathoughts Verlag - Dr. Glaw + Lubahn GbR .
Originally published by Zvaigzne ABC 🇱🇻

🛒The book is available here: https://shop.mediathoughts.net

Eine Rezension, die tief berührt und den Kern des Romans trifft: Jürg Kaiser hat Sanna und Lia gelesen – und seine Worte machen uns (und die Autorin) unglaublich stolz.

👉 Leseprobe: https://www.book2look.com/book/XIt3uxfc7o
👉 Erhältlich im Shop: https://shop.mediathoughts.net

„Laura Vinogradova hat einen eindringlichen Roman über Herkunft, Ausgrenzung und die Suche nach Zugehörigkeit, mit grosser emotionaler Tiefe und literarischer Klarheit geschaffen. Man liest eine generationsübergreifende Geschichte, die sich mit den Schattenseiten des Erwachsenwerdens auseinandersetzt. Die Protagonisten Sanna und Andrejs, beide geprägt durch ihre Kindheit im Heim, kämpfen nicht nur mit äusseren Vorurteilen, sondern auch mit inneren Dämonen. Ihre Liebesgeschichte ist keine romantisierte Erzählung, sondern ein realistisches Ringen um Nähe, Verantwortung und Selbstakzeptanz. Die Suche nach einem Platz in der Welt zieht sich wie ein roter Faden durch die Geschichte – sowohl für die Eltern als auch für ihre Tochter Lia. Die Beziehung zwischen Sanna und Andrejs wird durch die Geburt ihrer Tochter auf eine neue Ebene gehoben. Die Erzählweise ist ruhig, aber intensiv sie lebt von den inneren Konflikten und der psychologischen Tiefe der Charaktere. Beim Lesen ist mir die Darstellung der Roma-Identität aufgefallen. Diese wird sensibel, differenziert und ohne Klischees geschildert. Diese Geschichte hallte bei mir noch einige Zeit nach. Wer Geschichten über das Erwachsenwerden sucht ist hier genau richtig.“