Inspired by classical and contemporary authors and authors, the poet Lauris Veips accompanies the reader in his debut collection “Interesting Days” on a nostalgic, but not sentimental textual journey with a certain dose of self-irony and humor.
Laura Veipa’s poetics likes to welcome humor and self-irony, and sometimes it seems that, despite the sounds of loneliness and misunderstanding, the author reassures the reader, and not the other way around. His poetry is characterized by a warm presence, but also the lyrical hero he creates can suddenly find himself at a dead end or on a gray morning, where he has to wake up alone, even though he is asleep.
In the Latvian Radio program “Kultūras Rondo” Lauris Veips admitted that among the motifs reflected in his poetry can also be found the themes of childhood, family and growth.
“I have a pragmatic approach to it, I try to understand what I can do with what has happened to me, what has happened in my not so long life. I also approach it with nostalgia, but I hope I do not give the impression that I am idealizing a childhood in which we are nevertheless fearful, vulnerable and do not understand anything. I hope I have not left a sentimental impression, ”explained Lauris Veips. “Speaking of my father, I wouldn’t want to be treated either sentimentally or personally towards my particular father, but I know it’s just a topical issue, especially for people my age who are slowly growing or continuing. not grow.
In a way, I try to solve the problem that is for everyone who grows up, that is, how can you somehow become a parent yourself?
But this is a retroactive conclusion, which I review after I have written the texts. ”
In addition to his interest in various studies of the present and classical antiquity, the poet is also inspired by many authors and authors. “A look that inhabits the world, endowing it with new words” – one of the explanations of the poet’s essence, which Lauris Veips mentions in his poem “Rilkes motif”, referring to the early modernist classic Rainer Maria Rilkis.
“At least for now, Rilke is definitely my favorite poet. The classics are a little in the background, especially Homer, because he has an expression that I would like to emulate, its relative objectivity. But Homer probably appears exactly as an expression. In any case, it is one of my favorite authors, so to speak, “said the poet. “Then there are many modern authors, classic and poet Anna Kārsone. I’ve read a lot, including strange things like the American so-called “chick lit”, where there are authors like Lorry Moore, Marilyn Robinson, another very important author is the story writer Joy Williams. I could call you a whole pleiad, but they could be the ones that have left their mark on what is in my collection. ”
Combining a view of poetry as well as philosophy, antiquity and the present, Lauris Veips acknowledged that poetry and modern life are not easy to connect:
“Now, especially while studying philosophy, I’m thinking about how the huge change in the worldview that science has brought us can be translated into poetry, which is in some ways a very conservative medium.”
Lauris Veips described the collaboration with the editor of the collection, poet Artis Ostups, as very successful. “In short, the way we worked together was that he corrected a couple of texts, asked for a couple of texts to be removed and then, while working on the manuscript, I sent him the texts and he acted as a gatekeeper. I myself compared him to Oliver Kahn, a famous German goalkeeper who has Latvian roots and who simply did not allow such sloppy blows to enter the goal, in this case in a book, ”said Weips.
Poetry collection “Interesting days” released in early November in the library of the text group “Orbīta” along with the poetry of Aleksandrs Sen-Senkovs “Paper Breasts”, miniatures by Viļa Kasimas “Lizergīnblūzs” and Leonīds Dobičins’ novel “Enpils”
About the author:
Lauris Veips was born in 1992 in Madona, where he grew up and studied. He moved to Riga, where he followed studies in classical philology. After obtaining a master’s degree, his interest turned to the field of philosophy.
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