Anthology of Contemporary Latvian poetry – “Wszystkie ptaki, co we mnie…”
A collection of Latvian poems that have been selected and translated by Olga Wiewióra. The anthology includes poems by eleven great poets of different generations. Among the authors are: Knuts Skujenieks, Jānis Rokpelnis, Leons Briedis, Māra Zālīte, Edvīns Raups, Kārlis Vērdiņš, Ingmāra Balode, Juris Kronbergs, Uldis Bērziņš, Inese Zandre, Liāna Langa.
“Can Latvian poetry be interesting for Polish readers? Yes, it would work as “recognising the unknown”. General historical themes will be familiar here. The fate common to Central Europe can be found here – to be born on the ruins of an old empire, to experience 20 years of independence, then to fall again between the cogs of totalitarian power and finally regain sovereignty – in some, political power (in the countries of the socialist bloc), in others also in the sense of belonging to the Soviet Union.” Mariana Rižijs (from the Introduction)
“One gets the impression that Latvian poets of the older generations very cautiously approach poetry, they also use Aesop-like speech and revolve in a circle of doubts that are strongly marked in Eastern European poetry on the whole. Their words have been “stained” by relativism or the false language of totalitarianism and their meaning must be verified once again”. Andrzej Niewiadomski (from the afterword)
