Poetry
Zaļie vārti
Not translated into English
Zinaīda Lazda · 1936
Synopsis
A first book of verse turned towards the nature of the poet's native land, where life is held to be a universal value and viewed with a pantheistic eye. In 1937 the critic Jānis Ķelpe praised in it a calm approach to existence and a deep love of nature, and held the poems of the countryside to be the best in the collection, ahead of the love poems, which he judged less accomplished.
Context
The collection appeared in Riga in 1936 from Valters un Rapa, with illustrations by Emīls Melderis. The critic Vecgrāvis sees in it the foundation of all the work that will follow, from Staru viesulis, in 1941, Anna Brigadere Prize, to the books of exile. Her poems have been set to music by many composers, from Jāzeps Mediņš and Lūcija Garūta to Imants Kalniņš and Pēteris Vasks. Since 1960, a poetry prize of the Latvian exile has borne the name of Zinaīda Lazda.
Who it is for
Short poems, in simple language. It helps to know that their subject is the Latvian countryside and its seasons.
Prizes and reception
Press Society Prize in 1936; the first book of a poet whose name the Latvian exile community gave to a prize.