Literary scholar Raimonds Briedis at the “[Ie]nāc literatūrā” discussion series

In November, Guntars Godiņš has invited literary scholar and Latvian Academy of Culture professor Raimonds Briedis to the “[Ie]nāc literatūrā” discussion series at Valhalla Lounge. Topics include: what censorship is and when it began; banned literature in Latvia during the Soviet era; Glavlit—the Main Administration for Literary and Publishing Affairs—its responsibilities and operating mechanisms; two-stage censorship and lists of banned works; principles of cooperation between censor and editor; émigré literature and censorship; self-censorship; and other questions.

Raimonds Briedis (1965) has written about Latvian literature of the Soviet era. In his doctoral dissertation (1998), he focused in particular on the relationship between censorship and prose texts. He has also been keen to compile various kinds of lists and chronicles. His two largest works are “Latviešu literatūras hronika sastatījumā ar notikumiem pasaulē un Latvijā” (2 volumes, 2006) and “Cilvēki un notikumi latviešu zemēs no ledus aiziešanas līdz Latvijas valstij” (with others, 2018), which are, in effect, a reckoning with the previous era, attempting to restore lost things, people and connections. He teaches lectures on the history of Latvian literature and literary theory to students at the Latvian Academy of Culture.

Photo by Andris Ozols.

The “[Ie]nāc literatūrā” discussion series is supported financially by the State Culture Capital Foundation. For several years, poet and translator Guntars Godiņš has hosted the series in Sigulda. Past guests have included poets Kārlis Vērdiņš, Madara Gruntmane, Contra (Estonia), Inese Zandere, Susinuki (Finland), Sveta Grigorjeva (Estonia), Arvis Viguls, Ingmārs Balodis, Jānis Malins (Estonia), Jānis Rokpelnis, Heli Laaksonen (Finland), Eduards Aivars, Toms Treibergs and Edvīns Raups; writers Jānis Joņevs and Guntis Berelis, and writers Ilze Jansone and Inga Žolude; translators Silvija Brice, Māra Poļakova, Ieva Lešinska and Dace Meiere; sinologist Ieva Lapiņa; linguist Valts Ernštreits; American translator and poet Jayde Will; and translator Dens Dimiņš; musicians and composers Uģis Prauliņš, Juris Kulakovs, Kristaps Grasis, Zigfrīds Muktupāvels and Ieva Akuratere; literary scholars Eva Eglāja-Kristsone and Ilva Skulte; folklorist Janīna Kursīte; musician and folklorist Ilga Reizniece; artists Armands Zelčs and Dainis Gudovskis; and philosopher Kaspars Eihmanis. A film made by the text group “Orbīta” was screened at the “Devona” cinema, introduced by Sergejs Timofejevs and Artūrs Punte. Discussions about poetry in theatre have featured actresses Guna Zariņa and Inga Alsiņa-Lasmane, and actor and translator Gundars Āboliņš.