Aspazija

fiction / plays / drama / Poetry

Elza Johanna Emilija Lizete Pliekšāne (née Elza Rozenberga,1865 – 1943) is a Latvian poet and playwright, best known by her pen name Aspazija. She wrote her ...

Raibīs

Raibīs (Oskars Orlovs) (1983) is a Latgalian poet, writer and musician. Raibīs studied Philology at the Rezekne Academy of Technologies. In 2008 Raibīs recieved the Latgalian An...

Rainis

fiction / plays / essays / non-fiction / Poetry / Prose

Rainis (né Jānis Pliekšāns, 1865 – 1929) is a prominent Latvian poet, playwright, translator, and politician.  Rainis studied law at the University...

Agnese Krivade

Agnese Krivade (born in 1981) is a Latvian poetess, she holds a Social Relations degree, has worked in fields of journalism, social relations and advertising. Krivade used to re...

Agnese Rutkēviča

plays / Poetry / Prose

Agnese Rutkēviča, born in 1988, also known by her pen name Anna Foma, is a Latvian poet, prose author, and playwright. Agnese Rutkēviča has studied Thetatre at the Culture Acade...

Agnese Vanaga

Agnese Vanaga (1985) is a Latvian children's book author and scriptwriter. With a background in journalism and communications project management...

Agnese Zarāne

short stories / Prose

Agnese Zarāne (1989) is a prose writer and the author of Slīdošās kāpnes [Sliding Stairs]. The novel Sliding Stairs is about a young girl Signe from a small vi...

Aīda Niedra

fiction / Poetry / Prose

Latvian author Aīda Niedra (1899–1972) was born in Tirza parish, where she received her education before moving to Rīga in 1919. Her literary debut was in 1920, when she ...

Aivars Kļavis

fiction / young-adult / Prose

Aivars Kļavis, born in 1953, is a Latvian writer and journalist, author. He started publishing his poems and stories while still in high school in 1970 and 1971. Right after he ...

Aivars Madris

Aivars Madris (1987) is a poet and a literary and cinema critic. He was born in Liepāja, Latvia. He studied Baltic Philology at the University of Latvia and Audiovisual Media Ar...

Aivars Ozoliņš

fiction / Prose

Writer and journalist Aivars Ozoliņš (1957) studied at the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Latvia. Renowned as one of the first Latvian postmodern writers, he ...

Alberts Bels

fiction / short stories / Prose

Alberts Bels (born Jānis Cīrulis, 1938-2024) is a Latvian author, writer of psychological novels and stories, prominent intellectual figure, honorary member of the Academy of Sc...

Aldis Bukšs

Aldis Bukss (born 1985) is a Latvian/Latgalian writer and screenwriter, lawyer, financier, and deputy of his native municipality. Last four years he has worked as the Head of th...

Aleksandrs Čaks

Poetry / Prose

Čaks (1901–1950, real name Aleksandrs Čadarainis) is a renowned Latvian author and poet. From 1911–14, Čaks studied at the Aleksandrs Gymnasium in Riga which was eva...

Aleksandrs Grīns

fiction / drama / Prose

Aleksandrs Grīns (1895–1941) was a Latvian writer, translator and army officer. He has written many novels and stories, many of them historic. After graduating school...

Alvis Hermanis

Alvis Hermanis (1965) is a Latvian theatre director, set designer and actor in Europe’s largest theatre and opera stages. Just to mention few – Burgtheater Wien...

Amanda Aizpuriete

Amanda Aizpuriete (1956 - 2023) is a Latvian poet and translator. She has studied philology and philosophy, and participated in the translation of poetry seminar at the Max...

Andra Manfelde

childrens-book / fiction / Poetry / Prose

Andra Manfelde (born in1973, Kuldīga) is a Latvian writer and poet. In 1993, she moved to Krimulda and joined a Christian creative rehabilitation comune, in 2002, she graduated ...

Andra Neiburga

fiction / short stories / Prose

Andra Neiburga (1957-2019) was a prose writer and a well-known author of short stories. A graduate of the Latvian Academy of Art, she has worked as a designer for the magaz...

Andrejs Pumpurs

Andrejs Pumpurs (1841–1902) is a Latvian poet, the author of the Latvian epic poem Lāčplēsis [The Bear Slayer], first published in 1888, as well as a prominent fi...

Andrejs Upīts

plays / short stories / Poetry / Prose

Andrejs Upīts (1877–1970) was an author, literary scholar, and literary critic. He lived through several different eras and their contradictions, which left a clear m...

Andris Akmentiņš

fiction / Poetry

Andris Akmentiņš (né Andris Grīnbergs, 1969) is a Latvian poet, translator of poetry, and musician. In 1994, he graduated from the Department of Philology at the U...

Andris Kalnozols

Andris Kalnozols (1983) is a Latvian playwright and writer. His plays have been staged at the Latvian National Theater, Dirty Deal Teatro, and Ģertrūdes ielas teātris. Kalnozols...

Andris Kolbergs

fiction / non-fiction / Prose

Andris Kolbergs (1938) is a Latvian writer and author of many celebrated crime novels. Since his first publication in 1965 he has become one of the very few, and certainly the m...

Andris Kuprišs

fiction / short stories / Prose

Andris Kuprišs (1982) is a Latvian writer and translator. He studied journalism at the University of Latvia and obtained an MA in Photography from Goldsmiths University o...

Andris Ogriņš

Andris Ogriņš, born in 1975, Riga, is a Latvian poet. Ogriņš obtained his secondary education at the Natālija Draudziņa Gymnasium and went on to study at the Riga Technical Univ...

Andris Zeibots

fiction / plays / fantasy / Poetry

Andris Zeibots (né Andris Bērziņš), born in 1950, is a Latvian playwright and author, director, writer and producer. Zeibots studied com...

Anete Melece

Anete Melece (1983) is an author, illustrator, animation artist and director whose works stand out with witty details, charming characters and sincere stories. Currently ba...

Anita Mileika

Anita Mileika (1987) is a poet writing in both Latvian and Latgalian. Mileika’s first collection of poems, The Eternally Poor Doe (Latgolys Studentu Cen...

Anna Auziņa

Anna Auziņa is a Latvian poet, writer and painter, born in 1975, in a family of writers. Her paintings have been exhibited since 1994, she has had solo exhibitions, has wri...

Anna Belkovska

anthology / Poetry

Anna Belkovska (1992) – playwright, poet, prose writer. Studied at the Culture Academy of Latvia, graduated from the Literary Academy Workshops under Jānis Rokpelnis. Publ...

Anna Brigadere

fiction / plays / Poetry / Prose

Anna Brigadere (1861–1933) was a Latvian writer, playwright, and poet. Her first story Slimnīcā/At the Hospital was written around 1893, and published in 1896. In 1897, Br...

Anna Rancāne

Anna Rancāne, born in 1959, is a Latvian poet. She writes both in literary Latvian and her native East-Latvian, Latgalian language. Her first literary...

Anna Sakse

childrens-book / short stories / essays / young-adult / Prose

Along with Vilis Lācis and Andrejs Upīts, Anna Sakse (1905– 1981) is one of the most contradictory figures in Latvian literature. Her stories and prose for children are ...

Anna Žīgure

essays / non-fiction

Anna Žīgure, born in 1948, also known as Anna Velēda Žīgure, is a Latvian translator, writer and ambassador to Finland and Estonia after the Restorati...

Anšlavs Eglītis

fiction / plays / drama / Poetry / Prose

Anšlavs Eglītis (1906–1993) was a Latvian writer, journalist, and painter, the son of writer Viktors Eglītis and teacher and translator Marija Stalbova-Eglīte. Th...

Arno Jundze

childrens-book / fiction / Prose

Arno Jundze (1965) is a Latvian prose writer, cultural journalist, literary critic and theorist. He has been a host of 100g of Culture and other TV programmes, and...

Arnolds Auziņš

childrens-book / plays / essays / drama / young-adult / Poetry

Poet, writer and playwright Arnolds Auziņš (1931) was born in Dundaga, Latvia. He studied philology at the University of Latvia. Auziņš has worked in the editing department of ...

Artis Ostups

Artis Ostups (1988) is a Latvian poet, he has studied philosophy at the University of Latvia, and attended the Charles University in Prague, he is currently ...

Artūrs Punte

Artūrs Punte (1977) is a poet, editor and multimedia artist. Artūrs Punte has edited numerous poetry collections, together with Alexander Zapol he has been an editor of the anth...

Arvis Viguls

Arvis Viguls (1987) is a poet, literary critic, and translator. He works with English, Spanish, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian languages, and has translated works of such distingui...

Atis Klimovičs

Atis Klimovičs is a Latvian writer, reporter and journalist, special correspondent for Diena newspaper, interviewer. Klimovičs is known for his extensive work a...

Augusts Deglavs

fiction / Prose

Augusts Deglavs (1862—1922) is considered one of the foundational figures of novel-writing in Latvian literature. He was born at Vīganti homestead in Šķilbe parish (Jelgav...

Ausma Perons

Ausma Perons (née Katrīna Gaile, 1982) is a poet and artist. She was born in Riga, Latvia. She has graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia and has worked with intellectually di...

Baiba Damberga

Baiba Damberga (1957) is a poet, artist, and an active member of the Livonian culture scene. She graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia Department of Graphic Art in 1982 and n...

Baiba Zīle

fiction / Prose

Writer and translator Baiba Zīle (1974) was born in Ventspils, Latvia and now lives in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. She has a degree in Philosophy and Law and has worked a...

Dace Judina

fiction / Prose

Dace Judina (1970) – journalist, writer, publicist, editor, theatre and event director, guest lecturer, and singer-songwriter. She has worked in the press, public relation...

Dace Kravale

Dace Kravale (1979) is a music teacher and songwriter. Her librettos and choreography are inspired by the personification of the object and natural phenomena chara...

Dace Lamberga

Dace Lamberga (1948) is a renowned art historian and has curated more than 50 exhibitions of Latvian art at the Latvian National Museum of Art as well as in Armenia, Belarus, Be...

Dace Rukšāne

fiction / Prose

Dace Rukšāne (1969) is a Latvian writer and journalist, author of 11 books. Rukšāne became known in 2002 for her novel The Little Love Affair, which touc...

Dace Vīgante

fiction / short stories / Prose

Writer Dace Vīgante (1970) was born in Jūrmala, Latvia. She graduated from The University of Latvia, Faculty of Law. Vīgante attended “Literary ...

Dagnija Dreika

non-fiction / Poetry / Prose

Dagnija Dreika, also known as Dagnija Dreika-Matule, born in 1951, is a Latvian writer, poet and translator. She studied at Riga Secondary School No. 50, the Liepāja Art School,...

Daina Sirmā

Daina Sirmā (née Daina Luste) is a Latvian poet. Sirmā studied at the Dikļi Secondary School, then Valmiera State Gymnasium, and went on to study phil...

Daina Tabūna

childrens-book / fiction / short stories / young-adult / Prose

Daina Tabūna (1985) is a prose writer and her short stories have been published in numerous Latvian publications since 2000. Daina Tabūna's shor...

Dainis Deigelis

Dainis Deigelis (1983) is a Latvian poet and translator. In 2002 he published his very first poem Dzīves noslēpums [The Secret of Life]. His poems were published in Dzi...

Džena Andersone

short stories / Prose

...

Dzintars Tilaks

childrens-book / fiction / young-adult / Prose

Dzintars Tilaks is a writer, radio journalist, moderator, editor, producer and DJ. At the moment he is working as the producer of the Radio ...

Eduards Aivars

short stories / essays / Poetry

Eduards Aivars (real name Aivars Eipurs) is a poet, short prose writer, essayist, and a long-time literary mentor and consultant of young and aspiring poets. His fields of study...

Eduards Veidenbaums

Eduards Veidenbaums (1867 – 1892) is a celebrated Latvian poet and translator whose body of work has greatly influenced contemporary authors, despite most of his original ...

Edvards Kuks

Edvards Kuks (1997) is a poet, poetry translator and musician. He studied social anthropology and Hebrew language in London. His poems are published in online culture magazines ...

Edvarts Virza

fiction / Poetry / Prose

Edvarts Virza (originally: Jēkabs Eduards Liekna, 1883–1940) was born in Rāceņi in Emburga (present-day Salgale) parish. He was one of nine children of a farming couple &n...

Edvīns Raups

Edvīns Raups, born in 1962, is a Latvian poet and translator from Spanish and Portuguese. He has contributed largely to the introduction of some of the most influential authors ...

Egīls Venters

fiction / short stories / Prose

Egīls Venters, born in 1964, is a Latvian prose writer and journalist. He graduated in Latvian language and literature from the University of Latvia (...

Einārs Pelšs

Einārs Pelšs (1960) is a Latvian poet and translator, one of the most noticable representatives of avant-garde and conceptual poetry in Latvia. Publishing his poetry since 1981,...

Elīna Bākule-Veira

Elina Bakule-Veira (1981) started her poetic quest in 2002, encouraged by her literature professor in USA. In 2015, Elina Bakule-Veira received &ldquo...

Elīna Brasliņa

Elīna Brasliņa (1988) is an award-winning Latvian illustrator and translator who has more than 30 books to her name. Her various eccentric characters and light-hearted irony gai...

Elīna Zālīte

childrens-book / fiction / plays / drama / Poetry / Prose

Elīna Zālīte (1898–1955) was a poet, playwright, writer and translator. She was born into a family of artisans. As she was frequently ill in her childhood, she did not com...

Elvīra Bloma

Poet Elvīra Bloma, born in 1986, has studied cultural theory and theology, and works at the Rainis and Aspazija Museum. She investigates the internal ...

Eriks Naivo

Eric Naivo (1988) is an artist, poet, and performer working in contemporary art. He was born in Latvia, where he currently lives, and writes in Latvian, English, and Russian. Er...

Ērika Bērziņa

childrens-book / Poetry

Ērika Bērziņa was born in Riga, 1977. She holds a BA (1999) and a Master's degree (2001) in Humanities, and has attended doctoral studies in Philo...

Eriks Ādamsons

childrens-book / fiction / plays / Poetry / Prose

Eriks Ādamsons (1907–1946) was born in Rīga. He studied at the Rīga City Elementary School and Rīga Secondary School No. 1, where his literature teacher was the well-kn...

Ēriks Hānbergs

short stories / non-fiction / Prose

Ēriks Hānbergs, born in 1933, is a Latvian prose writer and columnist. Since 1957, he has been writing for the regional and national press. Hānbergs studied, and later worked, a...

Eva Mārtuža

fiction / essays / Poetry / Prose

Eva Mārtuža is a poet, project manager and literary editor at Lauku Avīze publishing company, and an author of essays, stories and articles. During her MA studies at the Th...

Franciska Ermlere

Franciska Ermlere (1968) studied at the Faculty of Robotics and Automatisation at Rīga Technical University, the Division of Television and Theatre Studies at the Latvian A...

Guna Roze

Guna Roze (born in 1965) is a Latvian writer, journalist, culture events manager, and the head of „Tukums Literature Alliance". Since 2016 Guna Roze is also a member ...

Gunars Janovskis

childrens-book / fiction / short stories / Poetry / Prose

Prose writer Gunars Janovskis (1916‒2000) was born in Helsinki to the family of a captain serving in the navy of the Russian Empire. Janovskis and his family returned to Latvia ...

Gundars Ignats

fiction / Prose

Gundars Ignats (born in 1981, Valmiera) is a Latvian prose writer. He started publishing his works in 2004 in Rīgas Laiks and since then has been publishing his stories in ...

Gundega Repše

fiction / essays / Prose

Author and art scholar Gundega Repše (1960) is a writer of prose, an essayist and critic. Repše has worked as an editor and contributor in various magazi...

Gunta Šnipke

Gunta Šnipke, born in 1955, is a Latvian architect and poet. Šnipke started writing poems already in school, she went on to study architecture at the Riga Technica...

Guntis Berelis

fiction / non-fiction / Prose

Prose author and literary critic Guntis Berelis (1961) was born in Cēsis, Latvia. Berelis studied in the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Latvia, as ...

Haralds Matulis

essays / Poetry / Prose

Haralds Matulis, born in 1979, is a translator, critic and general secretary of The Council of the Creative Unions of Latvia. After graduating Riga State Gymnasium No. 1, he wen...

Henriks Eliass Zēgners

Henriks Eliass Zēgners is a poet born in Jelgava, Latvia. His first collection of poems “elementi” (“the elements”) was publis...

Ieva Flamingo

Ieva Flamingo (Samauska) (1969) is a Latvian journalist, poet and author of numerous well received books for children. Samauska has graduated from the Department of Philology at...

Ieva Melgalve

young-adult / fantasy / Prose

Ieva Melgalve (1981) is a popular Latvian writer of fantasy novels, SF, plays, and other prose genres. She started out and got involved in the Latvian literary scene at a rather...

Ieva Rupenheite

Ieva Rupenheite (1969) is a Latvian poet, journalist, illustrator and a project manager at Ventspils Museum. She holds a degree in art pedagogy from Art Academy of Latvia and ha...

Ilona Balode

non-fiction / Prose

Ilona Balode, born in 1982, is a Latvian musician, actress, author and travel writer. After graduating from the Academy of Culture as an actress, Ilon...

Ilze Indrāne

childrens-book / fiction / drama / Prose

Ilze Indrāne (born Undīna Jātniece, 1927) is a teacher, school director, writer, and playwright. Since the end of the 1950s, when her writing was first published and quickly g...

Ilze Jansone

fiction / essays / non-fiction / Prose

Ilze Jansone, born in 1982, is a Latvian writer and theologian. Jansone graduated from the University of Latvia with the doctoral degree in Theology and is a leading researcher ...

Ilze Šķipsna

fiction / Prose

Following the end of the Second World War, the Latvian refugee author Ilze Šķipsna (married: Rothrock, 1928–1981) ended up in Germany, where her first literary work was pu...

Imants Ziedonis

childrens-book / essays / non-fiction / Poetry / Prose

Imants Ziedonis (1933 – 2013) was a Latvian poet who first rose to fame during the Soviet occupation of Latvia. Ziedonis graduated from the University of Latvia with a deg...

Inese Paklone

Inese Paklone is a writer and translator of children’s literature. Her original and translated poetry for children regularly is published in the annual children’s po...

Inese Zandere

childrens-book / Poetry

Inese Zandere (1958) is a Latvian poet, editor, as well as an author and publisher of children's books celebrated by the young readers all across the country. She has gradua...

Inga Ābele

fiction / plays / non-fiction / Poetry / Prose

Inga Ābele (née Ingrīda Ābele, 1972) is a prose writer, poet and playwright. Inga Ābele is the author of five novels, three collections of short stories and two...

Inga Gaile

childrens-book / fiction / plays / short stories / Poetry / Prose

Inga Gaile (1976) is an award-winning Latvian poet, prose writer, playwright, performance artist and theater director. With her unique brand of h...

Inga Grencberga

Sestā sieva [The Sixth Wife] is the first novel of Inga Grencberga (b. 1981). The publication of the work brought a lot of media attention to the author, who had pre...

Inga Pizāne

Inga Pizāne (1986) is a Latvian poet. Pizāne has studied education in Latvia and Sweden, simultaneously attending lectures at the Literary Academy. Her first collection of poems...

Inga Žolude

childrens-book / fiction / Prose

Inga Žolude (born 1984) is a Latvian prose writer. She studied English literature at the University of Latvia, and upon receiving the Fulbright scholarship attend...

Ingmāra Balode

Ingmāra Balode (born 1981) is a Latvian poet and translator. She has been an editor of the ¼Satori web-magazine, a writer for the contemporary art centre...

Ingrida Tārauda

Ingrida Tārauda (1971) is a multilingual Latgalian poet writing in Latgalian, Latvian and Russian. She is the author of five poetry collections, with her work being shortlisted...

Inguna Ula Cepīte

childrens-book / fiction / Prose

Inguna Ula Cepīte (1960) grew up in the family of noted Latvian choir conductors Ausma Derkēvica and Imants Cepītis. Since 1991 she has been the director of the publishing ...

Irma Kalniņa

Irma Kalnina is an international specialist in professional etiquette, communications and protocol. She introduced the idea of corporate social responsibility to the Latvian bus...

Ivars Šteinbergs

Ivars Šteinbergs is a poet. Considered by critics to be a leading voice in contemporary Latvian poetry, he is the recipient of multiple local awards and the author of fou...

Iveta Šimkus

Iveta Šimkus, born in 1964, is a Latvian poet and philosopher. Iveta Šimkus holds an MA degree in philosophy, she has read lectures on literature at t...

Jana Egle

fiction / short stories / Prose

Jana Egle, born in 1963, is a Latvian poet and prose writer. Her first collection of poems Dzirdēt noklusēto [To Hear the Unsaid] was published in 2002. S...

Jānis Baltvilks

childrens-book / Poetry / Prose

Jānis Baltvilks (1944–2003) – a poet, writer, ornithologist, one of the most popular authors of children’s books and an author of prose for adults. He has writ...

Jānis Einfelds

fiction / short stories / Prose

Jānis Einfelds, born in 1967, is a Latvian writer, post-modernist. After studying electrician's trade at the Riga 46th Technical College,  Einfelds worked a factory job...

Jānis Ezeriņš

fiction / plays / short stories / drama

Jānis Ezeriņš (1891–1924) was born in Biksēre (now: Cesvaine) parish at Beiri homestead. He attended Cesvaine and Lazdona church parish schools and also the Valka Teacher...

Jānis Hvoinskis

Jānis Hvoinskis (1961) is a Latvian poet and translator. In 2008 he graduated from the Literary Academy's poetry workshop led by Kārlis Vērdiņš. He has transl...

Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš

childrens-book / fiction / plays / drama / Poetry / Prose

Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš (1877–1962), one of the most well-known Latvian authors of psychological prose, left a lasting mark on every literary genre imagi...

Jānis Joņevs

childrens-book / fiction / drama / Prose

Jānis Joņevs (1980) is a prose writer. His first novel Jelgava '94 immediately became a cult book among readers. During the TV show Great Reading the novel was chosen among ...

Jānis Klīdzējs

fiction / essays / non-fiction / Prose

Jānis Klīdzējs (1914 – 2000) was a Latvian Latgalian writer. He gained popularity after publishing his novel Jaunieši [Youth] in 1942. He wrote in Latvian and Lat...

Jānis Lejiņš

Jānis Lejiņš (1954) is one of Latvia’s pre-eminent authors of historical novels. His trilogy Zīmogs sarkanā vaskā [A Seal in Red Wax] earned popularit...

Jānis Peters

Jānis Peters, born in 1939, is a Latvian poet, columnist, politician, and diplomat. From 1947 until 1958, Peters studied in Liepāja, later he was a stage worker and director&#39...

Jānis Poruks

fiction / plays / drama / Poetry / Prose

Jānis Poruks (1871–1911) was born in Prēdeļi in Druviena parish (located in present-day Gulbene municipality). His father was the head of the parish and...

Jānis Rokpelnis

Jānis Rokpelnis, born in 1945, is a Latvian poet, essayist, writer and scholar. From 1963 until 1969 he studied  psychology and philosophy at what was previously ...

Jānis Tomašs

Jānis Tomašs was born in 1984, Vecpiebalga, and currently lives in Riga. Tomašs studied in Vecpiebalga gymnasium, Smiltene Technical School (chef, waiter), and now works in the ...

Jānis Vādons

Jānis Vādons (né Jānis Veckrācis) was born in 1979. Vādons has studied translation, entrepreneurship and linguistics. He holds a doctoral degree in philology (2017). Since 2013,...

Jānis Veselis

fiction / plays / short stories / essays / non-fiction / Poetry

Jānis Veselis (1896–1962) learned most of what he knew about literature through self-study: before the First World War he studied German and French on his own, and when he...

Jeļena Glazova

Jelena Glazova is a poet and sound/visual artist from Riga, Latvia. She works in interdisciplinary areas of contemporary art, combining image, poetic ...

Jurģis Liepnieks

Jurģis Liepnieks is a political commentator and public figure in Latvia. Having studied Ancient Greek and Latin Languages and Philosophy, he has spent most of his life wo...

Juris Kronbergs

childrens-book / Poetry

Juris Kronbergs (1946 - 2020) was a Sweden-born Latvian poet and translator. He resided in Stockholm where he wrote poetry in Swedish and Latvian, as well as tran...

Juris Kunnoss

Juris Kunnoss (1948 – 1999) was born in Riga, and may be regarded as a specific phenomena, a peculiar icon in the Latvian universe of literature and poetry, whose simultan...

Juris Rubenis

essays / non-fiction

Juris Rubenis, Dr. theol., (1961) is one of Latvia’s most respected theologians. A Lutheran minister until recently, he has married thousands of couples. He has also acted...

Juris Zvirgzdiņš

childrens-book / Poetry

Juris Zvirgzdiņš (1941-2023) is known for being one of the most productive writers of highly esteemed literature, having written more than 20 books for children. His works have ...

Justīne Janpaule

Justīne Janpaule (born in 1989 in Riga) is a Latvian poet, literary critic and translator. She graduated with a BA in Intercultural Communication from the Latvian Academy of Cul...

Kārlis Skalbe

childrens-book / Poetry

Kārlis Skalbe (1879-1945) was a Latvian writer, poet and politician. Skalbe is most known as an author of beloved Latvian fairy-tales and poems. Already in an early adulthood Sk...

Kārlis Vērdiņš

childrens-book / Poetry

Kārlis Vērdiņš (1979) is a Latvian poet, literary theoretician, author of research papers, monographs, and several collections of poetry, as well as an editor of various pu...

Katrīna Rudzīte

Katrīna Rudzīte (born 1991, previously published as Katrīna Kuduma) is a Latvian poet and student of social anthropology and cultural studies. Her debut coll...

Ķempju Kārl

Karl Pajusalu (also known as Ķempju Kārlis, born in 1963) is a linguist, educator, poet, and researcher of Estonian language and literature. In 2000, he became a Professor of Hi...

Kirils Ēcis

Kirils Ēcis (b. 2000) is a Latvian poet and musician, best known for his band Alejas. His poems dwell in the shi...

Klāvs Elsbergs

Klāvs Elsbergs (1959-1987) was a Latvian poet and translator; a son of Vizma Belševica and a brother of Jānis Elsbergs (Ramba). Elsbergs also worked as an editor in Liesma Publi...

Knuts Skujenieks

Knuts Skujenieks (1936-2022) is a Latvian poet, journalist. He translates poetry from more than fifteen languages, Skujenieks has studied at the University of Latvia, and the Ma...

Krišjānis Zeļģis

Krišjānis Zeļģis (1985) is not only a brilliant poet, but also has worked in vineyards in France, worked in Mexico, has been a locksmith, baker, librarian, and a bre...

Krista Anna Belševica

Krista Anna Belševica is a young writer, based in Riga, Latvia, working as a policy maker of higher education she is also a translator, researcher and poet, currently wor...

Kristīne Jacino

Kristīne Jacino is the author of the educational book series for children Kur Rodas [The Origin]. Stories of the books explain the origin and production process of the ...

Kristīne Ulberga

fiction / young-adult / Prose

Kristīne UIberga (born in Riga, 1979) is a Latvian writer of novels for youth and adults. She studied theology at the University of Latvia. Her first novel Es grāmatas ...

Kristīne Želve

Film director and writer Kristīne Želve was born in 1970. She studied film directing and cultural management at the Academy of Culture of Latvia....

Laima Kota

fiction / Prose

Laima Kota (previously Laima Muktupāvela, born Vucina in 1962) is a Latvian prose writer. Currently Laima is publishing under her married name Laima Kota. She graduated from the...

Laura Dreiže

fiction / young-adult / fantasy

Laura Dreiže (1990) has written eight YA and adult fantasy novels. Three of them have received the award for Best Original Children’s/Young Adult Novel in contests organiz...

Laura Vinogradova

childrens-book / short stories / Prose

Laura Vinogradova (1984) is a writer of prose and children’s literature. She obtained a degree from the Riga Technical University, studying business. In 2016 she won the K...

Lauris Gundars

childrens-book / fiction / non-fiction / Prose

Lauris Gundars is a Latvian playwright, scriptwriter, and director (born in 1958). Gundars has studied Law at the University of Latvia (1980. - 1985), Theatre Directing (Sa...

Lauris Veips

anthology / Poetry

Lauris Veips (1992) is a poet and journalist. He studied at the University of Latvia Faculty of Humanities and is working in the editing department of Public broadcasting of Lat...

Lelde Stumbre

Lelde Stumbre, born in 1952, is a Latvian playwright, and the author of more than 50 plays. She was a candidate for the Latvian parliament in 2011, bu...

Leons Briedis

childrens-book / essays / Poetry / Prose

Leons Briedis (1949 - 2020) was a Latvian poet, novelist, essayist, literary critic and publisher, as well as a translator of various important works of prose and poetry from La...

Liāna Langa

essays / Poetry

Liāna Langa (Liāna Bokša, born 1960) is one of the most highly acclaimed Latvian poets. Her poetry can be described as both intellectual and touching, discussing simple, yet mea...

Lienīte Medne-Spāre

short stories / Prose

Lienīte Medne-Spāre (1956) is a writer and editor. She studied French Language and Literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Latvia. Lienīte Medne-Spāre...

Ligija Purinaša

Ligija Purinaša (1991) is a poet and journalist writing in Latgalian and Latvian. She has published two collections of poems: Sīvīte [Woman, 2019], which was shortlisted ...

Lilija Berzinska

Lilija Berzinska (1978) is a writer, translator, illustrator, and she has a PhD in Humanities. Nezināmais zvērs [Unknown Animal] written and illustrated by Berzinska wa...

Līva Marta Roze

Līva Marta Roze (1998) is a Latvian poet. She graduated from the University of Latvia Faculty of Biology and has studied Modern studies in Iceland and English literature in Norw...

Lote Vilma Vītiņa

childrens-book / Poetry

Lote Vilma Vītiņa (1993) is a poet, illustrator and artist. She has participated in the Latvian Literary Academy workshops, performed at "White Night" events...

Luīze Pastore

Luīze Pastore (1986) is a writer of children's literature. She is the author of eight prose books for children. The latter five books constitute a series in which Luīze Past...

Madara Gruntmane

Madara Gruntmane (1981) is a poet and recipient of 2015 Latvian Literature Readers' Choice Award for her book Narkozes [Narcoses] and the 2019 Public Broadcas...

Madara Rutkēviča

plays / Poetry / Prose

Madara Rutkēviča, born in 1988, is a poet, prose writer, playwright and actress. From as early as when she was 12 years of age, Madara kept diaries, and she has never stopped wr...

Maira Asare

fiction / Poetry

Maira Asare (1960 - 2015) was a Latvian writer, poet and translator. Maira grew up in Limbaži, a small town in Latvia, finished school there and went on to study at th...

Maira Dobele

Maira Dobele (1976) is a Latvian author of prose for youth audiences. She is deeply involved in the field of film, particularly working as a director and scriptwriter in the doc...

Māra Cielēna

childrens-book / Poetry

Māra Cielēna, born 1956, is a Latvian poet, writer, author and translator of children's literature. In 1972, she finished the Riga 49th high school, and graduated from the U...

Māra Svīre

plays / Prose

Māra Kaijaka, born Māra Brīdaka in 1936, is a Latvian prose writer and playwright best known to the public by her pen-names Māra Svīre and Astra Priede. She is the author of the...

Māra Zālīte

childrens-book / fiction / plays / Poetry / Prose

Poet and playwright Māra Zālīte was born in 1952 in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, where her family had been deported in 1941 by the Soviet regime. When Zālīte was four years old,...

Margarita Perveņecka

fiction / plays / Prose

Margarita Perveņecka (1976) is a Latvian playwright and writer. In 2001, Perveņecka graduated from the Latvian Academy of Culture with a BA in film and theater, and since then ...

Marģeris Zariņš

childrens-book / fiction / short stories / Prose

Writer Marģeris Zariņš (1910–1993) was a bright personality
in the Latvian cultural world. Before he gained fame as a writer, he was already a respected composer, working ...

Marija Luīze Meļķe

Marija Luīze Meļķe, born in 1997 in Cēsis, is a multimedia artist and a representative of the youngest generation of Latvian poets. She lives in Riga, and is currently in her fi...

Māris Bērziņš

childrens-book / fiction / plays / Prose

Māris Bērziņš (1962) is a writer. Māris Bērziņš has worked in the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia, he established and ...

Māris Čaklais

childrens-book / Poetry

Māris Čaklais (1940 – 2003) was a Latvian poet, writer, and journalist. Čaklais studied journalism at the University of Latvia and first published his work in 1960, and si...

Māris Putniņš

Māris Putniņš (born in 1950) is an author, artist and producer of many animated films, as well as, since 2003, the author of a children’s adventure novels Wild Pies/ M...

Māris Rungulis

childrens-book / short stories / Poetry

Māris Rungulis (1950) is a Latvian poet and author of numerous children's books and poems, as well as stories for teenagers. His books have been awarded the Latvia...

Māris Salējs

Māris Salējs (born Marians Rižijs, 1971) is a Latvian poet, translator, critic and literary researcher. He translates from Polish, Ukrainian and Russian. From 1999 until 20...

Mārtiņš Zutis

Mārtiņš Zutis (1988) is an illustrator, author, animator and graphic designer. Nenotikušais atklājums [The Discovery That Never Was] is the author's debut book...

Marts Pujāts

Marts Pujāts (born in 1982) is a Latvian poet, has studied philology and culture, and pursued copywriting. He started out in poetry in his teen years, and participated in youth ...

Melānija Vanaga

essays / non-fiction / Prose

Melānija Vanaga (née Melānija Šleija; 1905 –1997) was a Latvian writer and journalist. In 1912, Vanaga started school at the Dole (now Amata) Primary School, then Cēsis Gy...

Monta Kroma

Monta Kroma (1919-1994) is one of the most influential Latvian poets of the 20th century. Her early literary work was set within the Socialist Realism aesthetics, however, durin...

Nora Ikstena

fiction / short stories / essays / Prose

Nora Ikstena (1969-2026) was a prose writer and essayist. Ikstena was one of the most visible, and influential prose writers in Latvia, known for her elaborate style and de...

Ojārs Vācietis

Ojārs Vācietis (1933 – 1983) is a celebrated translator and poet with one of the largest footprints in Latvian contemporary literature. After having finished a local high ...

Osvalds Zebris

fiction / Prose

Osvalds Zebris (1975) is a Latvian writer and journalist. Zebris has worked as an editor for various newspapers and magazines. Osvalds Zeb...

Otto Ozols

fiction / non-fiction / Prose

Otto Ozols (born in 1970, real name Mārtiņš Barkovskis) is a Latvian journalist, political commentator, and writer. Ozols has worked for the Latvian TV as a director’s ass...

Pauls Bankovskis

fiction / short stories / essays / Prose

Writer and journalist Pauls Bankovskis (1973 - 2020) was born in Līgatne, Latvia. He studied glass art at the Riga School for Applied Arts and philosophy at the Univer...

Pēteris Pūrītis

fiction / essays / non-fiction / Prose

Pēteris Pūrītis, born in 1970, is a prose writer and journalist. In the 1990's, he was a member of the new-wave band Parks...

Pēters Brūveris

childrens-book / Poetry

Pēters Brūveris (1957, Riga – 2011, Ventspils) was a prominent Latvian writer, translator of poetry, laureate of the Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature. In 1980, he grad...

Raimonds Ķirķis

Raimonds Ķirķis (1997) is a poet, poetry translator and a literary critic. He graduated from the Latvian Academy of Culture and works at Rainis and Aspazija House-Museum in Rīga...

Rasa Bugavičute-Pēce

childrens-book / plays / young-adult

Rasa Bugavičute-Pēce (1988) is a Latvian playwright and author. In 2011 she graduated with a Bachelor degree in Theatre, Cinema and TV dramaturgy from the Culture Academy of Lat...

Rebeka Lukošus

Rebeka Lukošus (1995) has studied painting in the Art Academy of Latvia. Author of "Nepaklausīgais vectēvs".

Regīna Ezera

fiction / short stories / non-fiction / Prose

Regīna Ezera (née Regīna Kindzule, 1930–2002) was born in Rīga. Ezera graduated from the Department of Journalism at the University of Latvia and published her first liter...

Reinis un Matīss Kaudzītes

fiction / plays / essays / non-fiction / Poetry / Prose

Reinis (1839–1920) and Matīss (1848–1926) Kaudzīte were teachers and active members of society, who were born and worked in the picturesque town of Vecpiebalga in ...

Rihards Bargais

Poetry / Prose

Rihards Bargais (1969) is a Latvian poet. He studied pedagogy and theology and has worked as a layout designer for the publishing house Atēna and as a presenter of 100g of C...

Rimants Ziedonis

Poetry / Prose

Rimants Ziedonis, born in 1962, is a Latvian writer and poet. His début selection of poems was his 1980 publication in the Liesma magazine. His first novel Pļava/Meadow was publ...

Roalds Dobrovenskis

essays / non-fiction / Poetry

Roalds Dobrovenskis (Russian: Роальд Григорьевич Добровенский, born in 1936) is a Russian writer, translator, journalist and an honorary member of the Latvian Academy of Science...

Roberts Vilsons

plays / Poetry

Roberts Vilsons (1992) is a poet and playwright, and one of the editors of the journal Žoklis (2020-2023), which focuses on literature. His poetry has be...

Ronalds Briedis

Latvian poet Ronalds Briedis (1980) graduated from the Latvian Academy of Culture with an MA in Culture Theory. Besides being a critic, writer and playwright he has worked as a ...

Rudīte Raudupe

childrens-book / essays / non-fiction

Rudīte Raudupe (1940) is a Latvian author of religious and philosophical literature and also a management consulting specialist working in the United States of America. In one o...

Rūdolfs Blaumanis

fiction / short stories / essays / drama / Poetry / Prose

Rūdolfs Kārlis Leonīds Blaumanis (1862–1908) was a Latvian writer, journalist and playwright. He is considered one of the greatest writers in Latvian history, particularly...

Rūta Briede

Rūta Briede (1984) is an illustrator, author, cartoonist, scenographer, lecturer in illustration at the Art Academy of Latvia and the art editor with the publishing house &ldquo...

Rūta Mežavilka

plays / Poetry / Prose

Rūta Mežavilka, born in 1971, is a Latvian artist, writer, playwright and poet. She studied at the Jānis Rozentāls Art School (1982-89), and graduated from the Art Academy of La...

Ruta Štelmahere

Ruta Štelmahere (1965) was born in Jelgava, Latvia. Since 1998, she lives in Jēkabpils – a town cut in two by a river. Water is present both in Ruta's poetry, and her ...

Ruta Svaža

Ruta Svaža (1957) is a translator and children`s books writer. Graduated from Latvian State University, Foreign Language`s Faculty, the English Language and Literature. Worked a...

Rvīns Varde

fiction / short stories

Rvīns Varde (1985) works as a transcriber for the intellectual monthly magazine Rīgas Laiks, literally filling himself with the thoughts and reco...

Sabīne Košeļeva

childrens-book / fiction / Prose

Writer and journalist Sabīne Košeļeva (1989) has a Bachelor's degree in Communication science with specialization in journalism, Master's degree in Humanities with speci...

Sandra Kalniete

fiction / non-fiction / Prose

Sandra Kalniete, born in 1952, is a Latvian politician, author, diplomat and independence movement leader. Her political career began in the Latvian Popular Front, where she was...

Sandra Vensko

childrens-book / plays / young-adult / Poetry / Prose

Sandra Vensko (1958) is a Latvian poet and author. Sandra studied journalism and cultural management, and obtained a master's degree in educational management in science at ...

Semyon Khanin

Semyon Khanin (known also as Alexander Zapol, 1970) is a poet writing in Russian, a translator of Latvian poetry into Russian, and editor of numerous poetry collections of Russi...

Sergej Timofejev

Sergej Timofejev (1970) is a poet, journalist, translator, and DJ. He is the author of seven poetry collections. His poems are translated into English, Italian, Swedish, Ge...

Sergejs Moreino

essays / Poetry / Prose

Sergey Moreino (1964) is a poet, translator and author. He was born in Moscow, where he graduated from Moscow State University of Physics and Technology. He moved to Latvia in 1...

Signe Viška

Signe Viška (1997) is a young author and translator. She is also an organiser and participant of various cultural and literary projects and the creator and host of the li...

Svens Kuzmins

short stories / Prose

Sven Kuzmins (1985) is a Latvian writer, artist and actor. He mainly writes prose fiction, critical articles, and journalism, but also experiments with various forms o...

Tom Crosshill

fiction / short stories / Prose

Tom Crosshill (born 1985, real name Toms Kreicbergs) is a writer and financial adviser. He began his career in Wall Street investment banking. Crosshill first became known to La...

Toms Treibergs

Toms Treibergs, born in 1985, Riga, is a Latvian writer, poet, journalist, actor and director. After finishing school in Taurupe, he went on to study ...

Uldis Bērziņš

Uldis Bērziņš (1944-2021) was a Latvian poet and translator. Bērziņš is a prolific figure in Latvian literature, an idol to many poets, writers, and readers world...

Uldis Daugaviņš

Uldis Daugaviņš graduated from Latvian University with a degree in Economics and is an award-winning specialist in marketing and advertisement. In 2007 he received the Annual La...

Valdis Rūmnieks

plays / short stories / essays / non-fiction / Prose

Valdis Rūmnieks, born in 1951, is a Latvian writer, playwright and literary critic and historian. Rūmnieks is the author of many stories, poems and ch...

Valentīna Freimane

essays / non-fiction

Valentīna Freimane (1922-2018, born Lēvenšteina, Riga) is a Latvian theatre and film critic and scholar, holding a PhD in art history. Valentīna Freimane lost most o...

Valts Ernštreits

Valts Ernštreits is a poet, translator, artist and researcher at the University of Tartu. He was awarded a doctoral degree from the University of Tartu, Department of Phi...

Velta Sniķere

Velta Sniķere (1920 - 2022) is a Latvian poet, translator and a yoga instructor. She studied history and philosophy at the University of Latvia. Since 1946 Sniķere...

Viesturs Ķerus

Viesturs Ķerus (1984) is an ornithologist and a writer, the Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Ornithological Society. In 2019 his first book in children's literature...

Viesturs Vecgrāvis

non-fiction / Poetry / Prose

Viesturs Vecgrāvis (born in 1948) is a Latvian literary historian and critic, researcher, writer, Doctor of Philology, and asoc. prof...

Vilis Kasims

Vilis Kasims (1986) is a Latvian author, translator, editor and literary agent. His first novel, a satirical tale of an attempt to great a new society in a forgotten part of Lat...

Vilis Lācis

Vilis Lācis (1904–1966) was born in Mangaļi parish in the fishing village of Rīnūži (present-day Vecmīlgrāvis near Rīga). During the First Worl...

Visvaldis Lāms

fiction / essays / Prose

Visvaldis Lāms (born Visvaldis Eglons, 1923–1992) was a Latvian writer and publicist. At the age of fifteen, following his father’s premature death, Lāms got his fi...

Vizma Belševica

childrens-book / fiction / Poetry / Prose

Vizma Belševica (1931 – 2005) is a Latvian poet, writer and translator. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. She spent most of her childhood in prewar Riga...

Vladimir Svetlov

Vladimir Svetlov (1973) is a poet, photographer, and performer. His poetry has been translated into Latvian, English, German, and Italian. He is one of the participants of multi...

Vladimirs Kaijaks

fiction / short stories / Poetry / Prose

Vladimirs Kaijaks (1930-2013) was a multifaceted writer who began his literary work as a poet, but later devoted himself completely to prose – stories, novellas, novels &n...

Vladis Spāre

fiction / short stories / Prose

Vladis Spāre (1953) is a Latvian prose writer. Spāre made a debut in literature with a collection of stories titled Mēs atradīsim [We shall Find] (1987),...

Vilis Lācītis

fiction / Prose

Vilis Lācītis was born in Riga in 1975. His first short story was published in 1991, when he was 16. In his late twenties he moved to live abroad, first to the UK and then to Ca...

Zane Zusta

childrens-book / fiction

Zane Zusta (born 1982) is a Latvian author and screenwriter whose creative work spans children's literature, fiction for adults, and theatre. She m...

Zigmunds Skujiņš

fiction / short stories / essays / Prose

Zigmunds Skujiņš (1926 - 2022) is a renowned and established Latvian author of prose, poetry and drama, one of the greatest names and literary minds of the 20th...