Jaunā Gaita nr. 303. ziema 2020
L I T E R A T U R E
Five poets offer selections of recent work: Bārbala Simsone, Emergency Situation; Andris Ogriņš, How would it be without you, Epicurus?; Sandra Ratniece, Pandemic musings; Kristaps Vecgrāvis, (Untitled); and Inga Gaile, Black Sun. Prose compositions are offered by Dagnija Dreika, Sampling and Spinning; Inguna Bauere, Family Celebration; Kristiāna Kuzmina, Black Bird and Inga Pizāne, Eyelids.
V I S U A L A R T
Lelde Kalmīte, curator of the Global Center for Latvian Art in Cēsis, Latvia, describes an ongoing exhibit titled “Spring in Australia”. Linda Treija, president of the American Latvian Artists Association, describes a virtual exhibit of the work of 19 émigré artists titled “In Spite of It All”. Samples from both exhibits are displayed throughout this issue. The cover of this issue, titled “Stranded”, is by Guntis Lauzums, whose medium is digital photography.
M U S I C
Composer and teacher Dace Aperāne, chairperson of TILTS (Bridge), an organization that fosters connections within the global Latvian community, reviews a CD released by Albany Records titled 5 Latvian Cantatas. On the CD, Andrejs Jansons conducts compositions by Imants Mežaraups, Pēteris Aldiņš, Longīns Apkalns, Imants Kalniņš and Haralds Berino.
H I S T O R Y
Photographer / historian Pēteris Korsaks, author of Latviešu fotogrāfi – kara liecinieki (Latvian Photographers – Witnesses to War, 2020) shares a chapter on the adventurous life of Jānis Doreds (John Dored), who documented war with photographs and newsreels in many far-flung places in the world.
Ojārs Spārītis, president of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, was instrumental in organizing the recent publication of a diary kept by a young Baltic German schoolgirl in Rīga, Dagmar Kopfstahl, who was an astute witness to the turmoil of the years 1917 to 1924. Spārītis shares excerpts from his preface to that book.
B O O K R E V I E W S
Viesturs Vecgrāvis: volume 2 of Māris Čaklais. Raksti, the collected works of poet Māris Čaklais (1940-2003), who inspired the nation at the time of the reemergence of the Latvian state from the Soviet Union and who remains an enduring voice.
Līva Alksne: Inga Ābele’s Balta kleita (White Dress), a collection of short stories. Līva Alksne also contributes a thoughtful essay titled “Is it Easy to Read Latvian Authors and to Write about Them?”
Kristiāna Kuzmina: Ilze Lāce. Baloži uz Žozetes jumta (Pigeons on Josette’s roof), short stories. Some of these have been featured in past issues of JG under the author's official name Ilze Lāce-Verhaeghe.
Lāsma Gaitniece: Jūlija Jakovļeva. Sarkanā zirga savaldīšana (Taming the Red Horse), a criminal detective novel translated from Russian.
Lāsma Gaitniece: Vilis Seleckis. Disidents. Inta Cālīša dzīvesstāsts (Disident. The Life Story of Ints Cālītis). Cālītis, a freedom fighter, spent many years in the Soviet Gulag, surviving to participate in the rebirth of the Latvian state.
Silvija Ģibiete: Ričards Pļavnieks. Apsūdzības pret Viktoru Arāju un latviešu drošības palīgpoliciju, a translation from the English (The Cases against Viktors Arājs and the Latvian Auxiliary Security Police ). Viktors Arājs led a commando of 1200 men involved in atrocities committed under Nazi occupation, 1941-1944.
B R I E F L Y N O T E D
Members of our editorial staff and other contributors report news of recent cultural events, including art exhibits and new books published.
I N M E M O R I A M
We mark the passing of Andrejs Grāpis (1960-2020), an influential critic and historian of literature; Laris Strunke (1931-2020), an artist who lived his creative life in Sweden and exhibited all over the world; and Jānis Peniķis (1933-2020), a political scientist at the University of Indiana who was actively involved in the rebirth and development of post-Soviet free Latvia.
