Osvalds Zebris

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

Osvalds Zebris' first book – a collection of short stories “Freedom in Nets” (2010) brought him instant popularity among readers and won him the Annual Latvian Literary Award for best début. The novel “People of the Wooden House” (2013) tells a mystery of a strange wooden house in one of the oldest neighborhoods of Riga. The novel “In the Shadow of Rooster Hill” (2014) was written and published for the historical novel series “We. Latvia. The 20th Century”, set in 1905 when the country was part of the Russian Empire, – won the European Union Prize for Literature and is being translated into 8 languages. “Māra” (2019) is a novel about a group of sixteen-year-olds. It tells of their first encounter with pivotal choices and decisions. A collection of short stories “Doubt” (2021) is dedicated to some writers and poets close to O. Zebris. The last novel – “Mežakaija” (Gulls of Prey, 2022) – tells about a famous Latvian writer in exile Gunars Janovskis, and addresses the question of how (and – why) a writer is formed. The novel "Dzīvs!" (Alive!, 2025) combines two main layers – the beginnings of folklore collection and research in the Baltics, the second half of the 19th century (at the center of the novel is a real historical person – folklorist Fricis Brīvzemnieks); and man’s dependence on his own created myth, the vitality of mythology and “living in stories”.

Osvalds Zebris is a member of the Latvian Writers' Union.

Fiction
Dzīvs! [Alive!]. Rīga: Dienas Grāmata, 2025.

Mežakaija ["Gulls of Prey"]. Rīga: Dienas Grāmata, 2022.

Šaubas [Doubt]. Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2021.

Māra [Mara]. Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2019. 

Gaiļu kalna ēnā [In the Shadow of Rooster Hill]. Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2014.

Koka nama ļaudis [People of the Wooden House]. Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2013.

Brīvība tīklos [Freedom in Nets]. Riga: Jāņa Rozes apgāds, 2010.

Children's literature
Andris un Kalna Klapētājs [Andris and the Hill Clapper]. Riga: Liels un mazs, 2025.

About Gulls of Prey // Diena.lv, 2022 [LV]

About Doubt // Online magazine Satori, 2021 [LV]

About In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Justaword.fr, 2020 [FR]

About Mara // Latvijas Sabiedriskie Mediji, 2019 [LV]

Conversation with Osvalds Zebris // Online magazine Punctum, 2016 [LV]

European Prize for Literature, Winners 2017, Osvalds Zebris // European Prize for Literature website [EN, FR]

Interview with Osvalds Zebris // Diena.lv, 2014 [LV]

In the Shadow of Rooster Hill (excerpt) // Trafika Europe 3 [EN]

Cristiana Abbate. European literary itinerary. Latvia // Senzalinea, February 2022 [IT]

Review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Cafards at Home blog, 2020 [FR]

Review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Evadez-Moi blog, 2020 [FR]

Review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Bablio.com, 2020 [FR]

Review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Lyvres blog, 2020 [FR]

Gringo Pimento, review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Addict-culture.fr, 2020 [FR]

Review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Songazine.fr, 2020 [FR]

Review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // The Reading Session blog, 2020 [FR]

Review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Babelio.com, 2020 [FR]

Bārbala Simsone, Pilna manis istabiņa, review of Mara // Online magazine Satori, 2019 [LV]

Inga Žolude, Melnā grāmata, review of Mara // Diena.lv, 2019 [LV]

Bārbala Simsone, Pagātnes ēnu projektors, review of In the Shadow of Rooster Hill // Diena.lv, 2014 [LV]

Guntis Berelis, Osvalda Zebra postapokaliptiskā apokalipse, review of People of the Wooden House // Critic Guntis Berelis' literary blog, 2013 [LV]

Anda Baklāne, Nāvīgie fragmenti, review of Freedom in Nets // Online magazine Satori, 2011 [LV]

2023, the Annual Latvian Literature Award for Gulls of Prey

2017, European Union Prize for Literature for In the Shadow of Rooster Hill

2015, shortlisted for the Annual Latvian Literature Award Best Prose for In the Shadow of Rooster Hill 

2014, for People of the Wooden House shortlisted for Latvian Literature Award as the Best Prose Work of the year.

2011, the Annaul Latvian Literature Award Best Debut for Freedom in Nets.