Jaunā Gaita nr. 207, 1996. gadā
JG 207
One of today's foremost Latvian prose writers, Aina Zemdega (Canada) begins this issue with a Christmas story which takes us to Latvia present and past.
The Rev. Māris Ķirsons examines the attitudes of Latvians abroad who for various reasons avoid returning to Latvia, by quoting the Biblical prophet Haggai: "Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do you see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?" Haggai (2.3) poems in this issue are by Anna Rancāne (Latvia), Rita Gāle (USA), Ingrīda Vīksna, Indra Gubiņa and Lolita Gulbe (all Canada), lvars Lindbergs and Voldemārs Avens (both USA).
Raimonds Staprāns (USA) is both a leading Latvian playwright and a well-known painter. Art editor Voldemārs Avens discusses Staprāns the painter, while Brigita Siliņa, our theatre editor, interviews him as a playwright.
Uldis Siliņš (Australia) contributes two delightful works: the conclusion of his reminiscences about the 1979 Latvian Song Festival on the island of Gotland, Sweden, and the first installment of a play for children.
Juris Mazutis (Canada) issues a heartfelt call for democratic societies to take stock as they prepare for the new millennium by stopping all radio and television transmission for 5 days at midnight Dec 31, 1999, as proposed by British Conservative M.P. John Butcher. Modern man is succumbing to the constant bombardment of his senses, with the result that in politics everything has become trivialized and sensationalized. Public apathy and cynicism is reflected in falling voter participation, now down to 50-60% of the electorate. Does this apathy stem from poor media coverage, or does the media simply supply what the public wants? Individual escape is possible through networking and personal interests, but what of society as a whole?
Viktors Daugmalis, a well-known Latvian journalist, in an interview with Andrievs Ezergailis .(USA), talks about the origins of Latvijas Tautas Fronte (People's Front of Latvia) during Mihail Gorbachov's perestroika. The original LTF, he reveals, was organized by the Communist party. However, since it contained two incompatible groups, reactionaries and nationalist liberals, the movement split into the pro-Russian Interfronte and the more nationalist Tautas Fronte led by Jānis Peters. Daugmalis is at his best describing the dynamic forces behind the Latvian liberation movement of the late 1980s.
In the section "Echoes", Juris Silenieks (USA) portrays the Latvian poet Pēteris Ērmanis in a nursing home in post-war Germany after all his friends had dispersed overseas. Ērmanis' character - unpretentious, modest, and lacking in self-dramatization, is amply shown in his letters to Skaidrīte Vilks during the last years of his life. Mrs. Vilks has kindly allowed us to publish these letters in this issue.
The Latvian Festival of Organ Music celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. First held in Boston in 1980, it has also been held in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, and Toronto. Ārija Šulcs provides a history of the concerts, lectures and seminars of this festival which is held biennially to honor the king of instruments.
Edgars Krūmiņš (Canada) reviews four art exhibits held in Riga and Toronto recently. Two young talents from Latvia, flautist Ilze Urbāne and writer Dagnija Radziņa, introduce themselves in this issue.
Biruta Sūrmane (USA) reviews Erna Ķikure's (Canada) prose collection Mājas un ceļi (Homesteads and Roads) which gathers together essays, short stories and sketches from three earlier volumes. At 90 years, she is probably the oldest living Latvian writer.
Jānis Liepiņš (Latvia) reviews the prolific historian Edgars Dunsdorfs' (Australia). Grāmata par Saldu, about the history and outstanding people of his birthplace, the town of Saldus in Kurzeme, and concludes that the book is Dunsdorfs' crowning achievement.
The first of three planned volumes, Naivās spēles (Naive Games) by lnts Lubejs (Latvia) is an outstanding work proving that the realistic prose tradition is by no means dead. The novel vividly brings to life the World War 11 years in Latvia from a child's perspective. Reviewer Ildze Kronta (Latvia) concludes that this work underlines the realization that it is necessary to hold onto one's convictions even more strongly in freedom than in its absence.
From the Internet comes a discussion of the closing of the railroad between the Latvian port cities of Liepāja and Ventspils. A dozen participants, writing from Latvia, Germany, and the USA, over a period of a week last July, express their thoughts and opinions on this news and on its broader implications for the role of the state in maintaining a subsidized service infrastructure in the face of long-deferred and now accelerating technological change. Juris Žagariņš (USA) contributes his translation of a New Year's resolution from Don Marquis' Archy the Cockroach.
The cover is by Ilmārs Rumpēters and the frontispiece is by Aina Zemdega. On page 56 is a list of libraries in Latvia that receive Jaunā Gaita
J.Z., L.Z.
