Nominees for the Latvian Literature of the Year Award are known

The most important event of the year in Latvian literature is approaching – the annual award ceremony. Nominees for the award in five different categories have been announced today. The winners will be announced at the end of April, but the recipients of the prize for a lifetime contribution to literature have already been named. And this year there will be two – linguist and writer Lalita Muižniece and literary critic Gunārs Bībers.

The motto of this year’s Literature of the Year Award is “Joy and Sorrow”. It was chosen because the past year has shown the power of literature to survive even the most gloomy times. But no matter what happens, the book never disappoints – it has been with the reader in a pandemic, both in joys and sorrows.

“As if it’s a good time to read books – sit at home and read books, write them, and finally publish everything that’s written. However, without a doubt, just like everyone else, the entire Latvian economy, as well as book publishing, experienced problems, ”points out Ilmārs Šlāpins, the head of the expert committee of the Literature of the Year Award.

But regardless, last year the authors continued to create works. This year, a total of 97 works from 16 publishers were nominated for the award. From them, the jury has selected the 20 best in five categories – poetry, prose, children’s literature, the best translation into Latvian, as well as the brightest debut. For example, authors such as Amanda Aizpuriete and Kārlis Vērdiņš will compete for the best poetry. Inga Ābele was nominated for the Best Prose Work Award for her work “White Dress”, Jānis Joņeva, “Tiger”, Inga Gaile’s “Writer”, as well as Laura Vinogradova’s book “River”.

We met online, which resulted in the usual fighting, plucking and breaking our arms. We managed to nominate in five categories quite smoothly, ”says Šlāpins.

The Commission of Experts has also named this year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards for significant contributions to Latvian literature. Two bright personalities will receive the honor – literary critic Gunārs Bībers and linguist and writer Lalita Muižniece.

“This great award was truly a surprise in the” former “grade. I feel undeservedly gifted. But I am grateful to destiny that I had the opportunity to be a small gap between literature in Latvia and what happened in exile, ”said linguist and writer Lalita Muižniece.

“Great big thank you. But I wonder and can’t wonder why I’m being rewarded. I probably won’t stop wondering that either, “said the literary critic Gunārs Bībers.