Imants Ziedonis

Imants Ziedonis (May 3, 1933) is a Latvian poet who first rose to fame during the Soviet period of Latvia.

Early life

Ziedonis was born in the Sloka fisherman's district of Jūrmala, Latvia. He was educated at the University of Latvia in Riga where he earned a degree in philology in 1959. He earned an additional degree in advanced literature in Moscow in 1964. As a young man, Ziedonis worked in a wide variety of jobs ranging from librarian to road construction worker and from teacher to literary editor.

Literary Success

Ziedonis published his first major collection of poetry 'Zemes un sapnu smilts' ('Sand of earth and dreams') in 1961. By the end of the decade, he had established himself as among the preeminent voices of Latvian literature through publishing three more important collections of poetry: 'Sirds dinamīts'(1963,'The heart's dynamite'),'Motocikls' (1965, 'Motorcycle'), and 'Es ieeju sevī' (1968, 'I go into myself').

During the same period, Ziedonis began publishing work besides poetry. His 1965 "Dzejnieka dienasgrāmata" (1965, "Journalism: A Poet's Diary") and two years later his (1967, "Along the Foamy Path") established his prose writing reputation as well. His reputation established, Ziedonis rose to become the Chairman of the Writers' Union Board and Chairman of the Latvian Culture Foundation. Ziedonis considered defecting to the Westbut chose to remain in Latvia to preserve from what he perceived as Russian destruction the best of Latvian literature in the National Library. [Skujins, Z: "Imants Ziedonis Opens Clocks",World Literature Today, Spring 1998]

In the 1970s Ziedonis became interested in the roots of Latvian folk culture. To this end, he built a house in the countryside outside the city of Murjån°i. The very act of building a house as private property was a defiant act in Latvia during the Soviet period, so the choice to do so was in some respects a political statement. Ziedonis, however, emphasized his desire to establish his roots with the countryside. It was during this period that he began to collect and write folk tales and children's books. These included "Krāsainās pasakas"(1973, "Colored Tales"), "Lāču pasaka"(1976, " Tales of Bears") and "Blēņas un pasakas"(1980, "Twaddle and Tales"). His children's book "Kas tas ir — kolhozs?"(1984, "What is a Kholkoz?") directly addressed the "kholkoz" or Soviet collective farm in an era when the collective system was under increasing scrutiny in Latvia as elsewhere in the USSR.

Ziedonis maintained an odd balance between dissidence and acceptance in the Soviet era. As one of the most open voices in poetry during the Soviet era, he repeatedly risked appearing as a dissident to the Soviet leaders. A leading voice in the perestroika period toward the end of the Soviet era, Ziedonis was an outspoken advocate of freer expression and the growth of the Latvian Cultural Fund. This was particularly evident in his first published collection of essays "Garainis, kas veicina vārīšanos" (1976, "Steam That Promotes Boiling"). At the same time, Ziedonis never fully broke with the Soviet authorities. Indeed, in 1977, the year following his inflammatory essays, the Soviet government awarded him the National Poet of Soviet Latvia prize.

Following Latvian independence from the Soviet Union, Ziedonis became a Deputy in the Saeima (Latvian Parliament), a de facto evidence that he was not widely viewed as a Soviet collaborator. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of the Three Stars, Latvia's highest honor for civic merit to the nation.

Bibliography

Poetry

* "Zemes un sapņu smilts". R.: LVI (1961)
* "Sirds dinamīts". R.: LVI (1963)
* "Motocikls". R.: Liesma (1965)
* "Es ieeju sevī". R.: Liesma (1968)
* "Epifānijas/ pirmā grāmata". R.: Liesma (1971)
* "Kā svece deg". R.: Liesma (1971)
* "Epifānijas/ otrā grāmata". R.: Liesma (1974)
* "Caurvējš. R.": Liesma (1975)
* "Poēma par pienu". R.: Liesma (1977)
* "Epifānijas/ pirmā un otrā grāmata". R.: Liesma (1978)
* "Man labvēlīgā tumsā". R.: Liesma (1979)
* "Re, kā". R.: Liesma (1981)
* "Viddivvārpa/ poēma grām. “Maize”, kopā ar L. Damianu". R.: Liesma (1982)
* "Taureņu uzbrukums". R.: Liesma (1988)
* "Viegli". R.: Preses nams (1993)
* "Mirkļi. Foreles". R.: Teātra Anekdotes (1993)
* "Epifānijas/ trešā grāmata". R.: Preses nams (1994)
* "Ceļa sentiments". R.: Nordik (2000)
* "Trioletas". R.: Pētergailis (2003)

Folk and Children's Tales

* "Krāsainās pasakas". R.: Liesma (1973)
* "Lāču pasaka". R.: Liesma (1976)
* "Blēņas un pasakas". R.: Liesma (1980)
* "Kas tas ir — kolhozs?" R.: Liesma (1984)
* "Sākamgrāmata". R.: Liesma (1985)
* "Pasaka par bizi". R.: Jumava (1997)

Other Writings

* "Dzejnieka dienasgrāmata". R.: Liesma (1965)
* "Pa putu ceļu". R.: Liesma (1967)
* "Kurzemīte: 1. grāmata". R.: Liesma (1970)
* "Perpendikulārā karote" co-athored with Vitaly Korotiču. R.: Liesma (1972)
* "Kurzemīte. Otrā grāmata". R.: Liesma (1974)
* "Garainis, kas veicina vārīšanos". Raksti, runas, studijas. R.: Liesma (1976)
* "Tik un tā". R.: Liesma (1985)
* "Mūžības temperaments". R.: Liesma (1991)
* "Tutepatās". R.: Karogs (1992)
* "Ne tas kādam jāzina". R.: Pētergailis (2005)

Notes

References

*Imants Ziedonis http://www.literature.lv/lv/dbase/autors.php?id=64
*cite book
last = Ivaska
first = Astride
authorlink = Astride Ivaska and Mara Rumniece
title = “All Birds Know This: Selected Contemporary Latvian Poetry
publisher = Writers' Union of Latvia
date = 2001
pages = 7-8;217-219
doi =
isbn = 9984-720-06-3
* cite journal
authorlink = Zigmund Skujins
title = “Imants Ziedonis Opens Clocks”
journal = World Literature Today
volume = 72
pages = 297–300
date = Spring 1998