Reflecting on the last year, we have compiled a list of the top ten most significant events that brought us joy and pride (as much as our introverted nature allowed us).
10.
“The Silent Space” at the London Book Fair 2019 welcoming the visitors to enjoy a moment of peace and quiet and take shelter away from the fuss at the fair. We believe it sounded and looked wonderful.
9.
Our colleague, Juta Pīrāga, was the only foreign representative at “The Bookseller” Marketing and Publicity conference in London where she got to share our achievements with colleagues abroad.
8.
Latvian illustrators toured the UK presenting “The Horse” catalogue which comprises 20 works by Latvian artists accompanying short stories about horses by 20 different Latvian writers. The exhibition has already visited London and Newcastle and is about to travel to Manchester.
7.
Last November, Latvian authors were especially involved in travelling the world. Altogether 11 authors attended 17 events in 7 countries during November alone.
6.
Latvian literature is being published in ever more languages! Last year saw the first translations of Lavian works into Japanese and Chinese.
5.
Translator Silvija Brice captured the central purpose of our platform’s efforts in a single photo on the London underground – a reader of Latvian literature abroad!
4.
We received the National Design Award 2019! We would like to express our gratitude to Reinis, Aija, Madara, and everyone else involved in creating our design and visual identity!
3.
The official visit of our Minister of Culture, Nauris Puntulis, to Frankfurt and the initiation of negotiations about Latvia being awarded the Guest of Honour status at the Frankfurt Book Fair in five to six years. In November, Latvia welcomed representatives from the previous Frankfurt Guest of Honour countries – Georgia and Finland, as well as the Guest of Honor 2022, Slovenia, who shared their valuable experience.
2.
We organized the successful “Do not end!” campaign to fight for the funding to keep the Latvian Literature platform alive in the years to come. Thanks to the support from the Ministry of Culture and other ministry representatives, we will keep going. We will not let you down!
1.
The greatest thing of all in 2019, of course, was collaborating with all of you! Thank you to Latvian writers for existing! Thank you to foreign publishers for wanting to publish our literature! And – thank you to all the fantastic organizations and festivals we got to work with!
