Jaunā Gaita nr. 304. pavasaris 2021
L I T E R A T U R E
We offer selections of recent work from four poets: Juris Helds, To a Lonely Classic; Rūta Mežavilka, Onward; Elīna Līce, (untitled); Sabīne Košeļeva, Auction of the Heart.
Jānis Elsbergs introduces the Swedish poet Erik Lindegren (1910-1970), whose six poems are translated into Latvian by Zigurds Elsbergs.
Five writers offer prose compositions: Gundega Repše, Tale of the Horsewoman and Flight; Jana Egle, Electricity; Dace Judina, Do not Wake the Dead; Krista Anna Belševica, Moon of Lithia. Ilze Jansone shares An Invoice of Time, an exerpt from an upcoming novel.
V I S U A L A R T
Linda Treija, president of the American Latvian Artists Association, introduces Chicago-based Rita Grendze, whose recent drawings on aquarelle are featured on the cover of this issue and on page 39. Art historian Baiba Magdalena Eglīte writes about Matiass Jansons, a sculptor who lives and works in Cēsis, Latvia. Samples of his work are depicted on pages 21 and 47.
H I S T O R Y
When the Soviet Union occupied Latvia at the end of World War II, stage actors and other personnel of the Latvian National Theater settled as refugees in the village of Meerbeck, near Hanover, in the British occupation zone of defeated Germany. The family of Maruta Lietiņa Ray, now an emeritus professor of German literature at the University of Virginia, was among them. She writes about the transformation of Meerbeck into a Latvian cultural center, which included a professional touring theater. Probably every Latvian displaced person in all the “DP camps” in Germany experienced at least one of the many productions of the Meerbeck Theater.
A B O U T B O O K S
Kristīne Ilziņa: Vladis Spāre. Gājiens ar Klibo Zirdziņu (A Lame Knight's Move), a collection of short stories.
Bārbala Simsone: Dace Vīgante. Bumbulītis (Little Bump). A collection of short stories.
Viesturs Vecgrāvis: Augusts Saulietis (1869-1933). Baltos ceļos (White Ways), a collection of his poetry; and Roberts Akmentiņš. Rakstnieka Augusta Saulieša pasaules uzskatu pamatproblēmu aktualitāte (The Relevance of the Fundamental Problems Addressed by the Writer Augusts Saulietis).
Silvia Ģibiete: Andžils Remess and Juris Raķis. Noslēpumainā karosta (Mysterious Naval Base). A history of the base which is now part of the port city of Liepāja, Latvia.
Līva Alksne offers her observations on the book clubs or "communities of introvert readers" one can join in Latvia.
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 Biruta Abula (1929-2021), a prolific journalist and publicist who lived near Kalamazoo, Michigan.
