LATVIAN POETRY SHOWCASE 5: HENRIKS ELIASS ZĒGNERS
Three Scottish (Kathrine Sowerby, William Letford, MacGillivray) and one Welsh poet (Llyr Gwyn Lewis) travelled to Riga in late 2017 to work on translations with Latvian poets Inga Pizāne, Aivars Eduards, Katrīna Rudzīte, and Henriks Eliass Zēgners. The latter then travelled back to Scotland in 2018 to perform with the UK-based poets. Some of the results of these intensive workshops are published in this series. The events were organised by Ryan van Winkle and Inga Vareva, and generously supported by the Scottish Poetry Library, British Council and Latvian Literature.
Kintija Puzāne provided bridge-translations to the Scottish and Latvian poets.
HENRIKS ELIASS ZĒGNERS is a poet born in Jelgava, Latvia. His first collection of poems “elementi” (“the elements”) was published in 2013 and shortlisted for the Annual Latvian Literature Award as Best Debut. His poetry has been translated and published in Russian, Lithuanian and Polish. Currently Zēgners is working on his next collection, writes reviews and articles about literature and music.
‘jau mūs laikam tomēr vieno’/ ‘there must be something that holds us together…’ is translated by William Letford.
‘kad ielas ir tukšas’ / ‘magnolia dawn’ is translated by Llyr Gwyn Lewis.
Click here for a PDF version of the dual-language poems: Poems_from_Translation_Workshop_Riga_2017 (5)