Vizma Belševica

Vizma Belševica (May 30, 1931 - August 6, 2005) was a Latvian poetess, writer and translator. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Biography

Belševica's father Jānis Belševics was a worker, but her mother Ieva Belševica (maiden name Cīrule) was a housewife. The family was relatively poor, as only one of the two spouses did paid work. Vizma's father had drinking problems, which aggravated when during the Great Depression he lost his job as a baker. Vizma Belševica was born on 30 May, 1931, in prewar Riga, than the capital of capitalist and democratic Latvia, where she spent most of her childhood. The city often is featured in her works, especially her most famous work - autobiographic trilogy "BILLE" - , but the time spent in Courland, on her relatives' small farm has also important role in her poetry and writings.

Recognition

Receiving the Nobel prize was her childhood dream; she, as a poor but bright girl, spent much of her time reading classical literature. Belševica's work has been recognised: on December 6, 1990, she was elected honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of Latvia; she has twice received the Spidola Award, which is the highest recognition in Latvian literature. Belševica has also received the highest award of the Latvian State, namely the Three Star Order.

Works

Vizma Belševica published her first poems in 1947; her first book of poetry appeared in 1955. Her most notable poetry collections are "Jūra deg" (The Sea is Burning, 1966), "Gadu gredzeni" (Annual Rings, 1969), "Madarās" (In My Lady's Bedstraw, 1976), "Kamola tinēja" (The Clew Winder, 1981), "Dzeltu laiks" (Autumn Time, 1987). Her short stories' collections are "Ķikuraga stāsti" (Stories from Kikurags, 1965), "Nelaime mājās" (Misfortune at Home, 1979), "Lauztā sirds uz goda dēļa" (Broken Heart on the Board of Honour, 1997). During the post-Soviet period, Belševica wrote three semi-autobiographical books - stories about the girl Bille, following her life from the late 1930s, throughout the first year of Soviet occupation of Latvia (1940-41), the Nazi occupation (1941-45), and the first post-war years under Stalin's regime: "Bille" (Bille, 1992, 95), "Bille un karš" (initial title: "Bille dzīvo tālāk") (Bille and War, 1996), "Billes skaistā jaunība" (The Wonderful Youth of Bille, 1999) - this trilogy has been recognized as one of the most important works of Latvian literature of all times.

Belševica's poetry and fiction has been translated in about 40 languages. Within the Soviet Union of the 1960s-1980s, several books of her selected poetry were published in Russian, Belarusian and Armenian. From the 1980s onwards, Belševica has been regularly present on the Swedish literary scene, (translator Juris Kronbergs), books of her poetry and Bille stories have enjoyed immense critical success and wide readership there. Her Selected Poems have been published also in Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Selected Short Stories - in Russia, Georgia and Germany. The Russian translation of the "Bille" trilogy has been published in Riga, Latvia.