Poetry
Atrita
Not translated into English
Baiba Bičole · 1966
Synopsis
The collection celebrates the diversity and change of life in the face of destruction and weariness, with a romantic and sensual gaze nourished by nature, cosmic images, folklore and the psychological conflicts of the time, mostly in free verse. Nora Valtere reads in it a deep closeness to the fertile force of the earth, linked to the feminine, and poems saturated with reds, oranges and yellows; Valerija Baltiņa-Bērziņa notes in it fear, fertility and surreal images.
Context
Upeskalna apgāds published it in Shippenville in 1966: it is its author's first book. In February 1967, in Latvija Amerikā, Nora Valtere devoted to it an essay on the female experience of the world and of feelings. In 1970, Valda Melngaile described a poetry in which nature is not man's friend and in which the poet's self merges into the landscape. Other collections followed, Ceļos in 1969, Burot in 1976, then Atgriežos in 1991.
Who it is for
A sensual, colourful poetry in free rhythm, which can be read without any particular preparation.
Prizes and reception
Fourth Zinaīda Lazda Prize for poetry, in 1967, awarded to a first book in the year after its publication.