Daina Tabūna

Daina Tabūna (1985) is a prose writer and her short stories have been published in numerous Latvian publications since 2000. Daina Tabūna's short story collection Pirmā reize [The First Time] was shortlisted for the Annual Latvian Literature Award in 2015 as best debut of the year. The First Time instantly won over many readers and critics and has become a cult book of its time. It is a brilliant contemporary coming-of-age book addressing sensitive issues of acquiring experience and forming as a personality. In 2010, Daina Tabūna completed her studies with a BA in Theatre, cinema and TV drama at the Latvian Academy of Culture. In 2016 Tabūna received the Prose Reading festival Award. Tabūna's stories have been published in the UK by The Emma Press, bearing the title, The Secret Box. The illustrated collection features three stories from her debut The First Time. Her works have also been translated in Lithuanian, Slovenian, German, and Chinese, she has participated in Leipzig Book Fair, Slovenian Book Days, Birmingham Literature Festival, and Cork International Short Story Festival. In 2024 Daina Tabūna with her novel Raganas [Witches] was nominated for European Union Prize for Literature.

Novels

Raganas [Witches]. Riga: Ascendum, 2023.

Children's literature

Lasis Stasis un Atlasijas okeāns [Salmon Sammy and the Ocean]. Riga: Liels un mazs, 2022.

Short stories

Pirmā reize [The First Time]. Riga: Mansards, 2014. Also available as an e-book.

Daina Tabūna. Witches, radio reading // Vikerraadio.ee, November 2024 [EE]

Daina Tabūna. Witches // Eu prize literature, May 2024 [EN]

Porter Anderson. European Union Prize for Literature Names Its 2024 Nominees // Publishing Perspectives, February 2024 [EN]

Video conversation with Daina Tabūna // Online magazine Punctum, 2021 [LV]

Prose excerpt by Daina Tabūna // Online magazine Satori, 2020 [LV]

Interview with Daina Tabūna // Latvijas Sabiedriskie Mediji, 2017 [EN]

Conversation with Daina Tabūna // Online magazine Punctum, 2015 [LV]

About The First Time // Online magazine Satori, 2015 [LV]

Daina Tabūna Satori profile // Online magazine Satori [LV]

In celebration of Women In Translation Month, Culture Writer Joi Foote reviews The Secret Box by Daina Tabūna (translated from Latvian by Jayde Will) // Redbrick, August 2023 [ENG]

Bārbala Simsone, Pirmo kā pēdējoreiz, review of The First Time // Online magazine Satori, 2015 [LV]

Anna Auziņa, Bez Zīda Pūkas & co, review of The First Time // Online magazine Punctum, 2015 [LV]

2016, the Prose Reading Award for the story "The Last Bench"

2015, shortlisted for the Annual Latvian Literature Award Best Debut for The First Time