Between the Arctic Ocean and Lysergic Acid Blues – Experience Latvian Literature

Look forward to a captivating reading, exciting insights into the Latvian literary scene, and a conversation with the two authors about their works, inspirations, and writing processes. Afterwards, you will have the opportunity to purchase and have books signed.

The event will be held in German and English.

In "Arctic Sea," Dace Vīgante paints a sensitive portrait of several women whose fates are intertwined by family ties and the upheavals of the 20th century in Latvia. In poetic language, she tells of alienation, hidden pain, and the faint hope of breaking through the coldness of the past. Translated from Latvian by Bettina Bergman.

In the 37 texts of "Lysergic Acid Blues," comprising short prose, ultra-short stories, and verse, Riga-based author Vilis Kasims recounts a strange everyday life. At one point, a homeless man sits on the narrator's shoulder, telling him that all his efforts are useless; at other times, satellite television brings real color to life, or an old radio serves as a link to memories. Reality at the turn of the millennium in northern Eastern Europe. Translated from Latvian by Lil Reif.

Dace Vīgante (1970) is a writer, editor, and director of the "Literary Academy" prose workshop of the Latvian Writers' Union. She graduated from the Faculty of Law at the State University of Latvia. Since 2016, she has published three collections of short stories and one novel. Her short story collection "Ice Orange" (2016), including the feature-length story "Arctic Sea," was nominated for the Latvian Literature Prize for Outstanding Debut and the "Kilograms of Culture" Public Media Award. Her novel "The Romantic" (2022) was nominated for the Latvian Literature Prize for Best Prose Work and the "Kilograms of Culture" Public Media Award and has been translated into Estonian. The stories have been translated into Lithuanian, Chinese, German, English, and Armenian.

Vilis Kasims (1986) is a Latvian author, translator, editor, and literary agent. He has published two novels, a collection of short stories, and a novel of essays. His works have been translated into English, German, Catalan, and Finnish. He translates from English, Russian, Catalan, and Spanish and has published around 20 translations to date, including Frank Herbert's "Dune" trilogy, Sergei Dovlatov's "The Zone," and Bob Dylan's "Chronicles: Volume One." Originally from a small village in northern Latvia, he has lived and worked in London and Barcelona, but has now settled in Riga.

Andreas Rostek, born in 1955, is a journalist, translator, and publisher of edition.fotoTAPETA. He studied political science in Berlin and Bologna. He was one of the co-founders of the daily newspaper taz and worked for many years as an editor, foreign correspondent, editorial director, and television editor. He lived for several years in Rome and Lugano, as well as in Berlin and Washington. He is married and lives in Berlin again.

André Störr, born in 1975 in Merseburg, studied law at the University of Jena and cultural management at the Weimar University of Music. After completing her studies, she worked as a lawyer, and from 2010 onward as a legal consultant in various Thuringian ministries. In 2019, she founded the Friedrich Mauke publishing house. Since then, she has been a publisher, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, always searching for good literature.

Aiga Šemeta, born in 1983 in Cēsis, Latvia, translates, interprets, teaches Latvian, and researches Latvian cultural and media history. She studied German in Riga and Freiburg and has lived in Berlin for many years. Her professional life spans the Baltic Sea – between Riga, Greifswald, and Berlin.