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 graduated from the Latvian State Conservatory, department of Culture and Art. His first poems were published in 1977, and he was a member of the Latvian Writers' Union from 1988. Pēters Brūveris was the author of 10 collections of poetry, and he translated from Azebaijan, Tukish, Lithuanian, Russian, German and other languages, especially devoting himself to translating poetry, including of authors from smaller former USSR republics. Brūveris also wrote children's literature, lyrics for popular musicals and songs. He worked as a literary consultant and director at several important culture magazines, including Literatūra un Māksla/ Literature and Art. His most notable honours and awards include the Klāvs Elsbergs Prize in 1987, the Poetry Days Award (2001, 2005), the Baltic Assembly Prize in 2004, and the Annual Latvian Literary Award (2006). Paulis Liepa (b. 1978) is one of the most well-known Latvian graphic artists with a vivid and recognizable individual style. He studied graphic art at the Art Academy of Latvia. In his work he mainly exploits the techniques of colography and cardboard print. Paulis has regularly participated in print exhibitions, has held several solo shows. He has received significant awards, among them Award of the Year in Culture of the newspaper Diena (2013), Grand Prix at the print exhibition “Grafika-S” (2014), Grand Prix at the International Graphic Art Biennial of the Baltic Sea Countries in Kaliningrad, Russia (2008), prize at the International Graphic Art Triennial in Cracow, Poland (2012) etc. The artist’s works are held in private collections as well as in the collection of the future Latvian Contemporary Art Museum. In parallel to prints Paulis Liepa works in book design, illustrations and animations. Žanete Vēvere Pasqualini is a translator and literary agent. She graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Latvia, in 1995, at the same time completing a course in Italian language at the University of Perugia.She was the first Latvian Consul in Rome after Latvia regained independence, and now divides her time between Latvia and Italy. She currently she works as a literary agent for Latvia, promoting Latvian literature abroad and dedicating some of her time to literary translation. In her translations, Žanete enjoys the challenge of rendering the text precisely while keeping the target language as natural and flowing as possible. Her translations into English include: novel “The Green Crow” by Kristīne Ulberga (Peter Owen Press); the short stories “The Birds of Ķīpsala island” by Dace Rukšāne and “The Shakes” by Svens Kuzmins (anthologised in “The Book of Riga”, Comma Press); children’s poetry “The Noisy Classroom” by Ieva Flamingo (Emma Press); the children’s book “Dog Town” by Luīze Pastore (Firefly); “Minimisms” by Imants Ziedonis (Viegli), and the play “History Research Commission” by Alvis Hermanis and company (Jaunais Rīgas Teātris).Kate Wakeling is a poet and musicologist. Her debut poetry collection for children, Moon Juice, won the CLiPPA in 2017 and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Her second collection, Cloud Soup, was shortlisted for the CLiPPA in 2022 and named a book of the month in the Guardian and the Scotsman. A pamphlet of Kate’s poetry for adults, The Rainbow Faults, is published by The Rialto. Kate studied music at Cambridge University and holds a PhD in Balinese gamelan music from SOAS.
