Imants Ziedonis

Imants Ziedonis studied at University of Latvia and Gorky Institute of World Literature. The recorded working language is Latvian. Distinctions recorded are Cross of Recognition, Order of the Three Stars, Order of Friendship of Peoples and honorary citizen of Tukums Municipality.

• Name — Imants Ziedonis • Born — 3 May 1933 • Birthplace — Sloka, Latvia • Died — 27 February 2013 • Place of death — Rīga, Latvia • Occupation — Poet, writer • Spouse — Ausma Kantāne-Ziedone

Ziedonis was born in Ragaciems fisherman's family. 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.

Ziedonis published his first major collection of poetry 'Zemes un sapņu 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, 'Heart's Dynamite'), 'Motocikls' (1965, 'Motorcycle'), and 'Es ieeju sevī' (1968, 'I Enter Myself'). During the same period, Ziedonis began publishing work besides poetry. His 1965 Dzejnieka dienasgrāmata (1965, 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 West but chose to remain in Latvia to preserve from what he perceived as Russian destruction the best of Latvian literature in the National Library. 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 town of Murjāņi. The very act of building a house as private property was a defiant act in Latvia during the Soviet occupation, 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. There he wrote his three books of lyrical and ironic miniatures, "Epifānijas" ("Epiphanies", 1971, 1974, 1994), which can be identified as prose poetry. 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 Kolkhoz?) directly addressed the kolkhoz 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 occupation era. As one of the most open voices in poetry during the Soviet occupation 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 occupation 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. Ziedonis was a prominent member of Atmoda, the re-awakening movement in Latvia, he was elected to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia in 1990 and was one of the Supreme Council members who voted for the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of Latvia.

• 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) • "Thoughtfully I Read the Smoke: Selected Poems" (parallel texts in Russian and English), Moscow: Progress Publishers (1980) • Re, kā. R.: Liesma (1981) • Viddivvārpa/ poēma grām. "Maize", kopā ar L. Damianu. R.: Liesma (1982) • Flowers of Ice. Translated by Barry Callahan. Exile editions, Ltd. 1987. • 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)

• 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)

Imants Ziedonis is recorded as having received Cross of Recognition, Order of the Three Stars and Order of Friendship of Peoples.

* * *