Osvalds Zebra’s novel about Gunnar Janowski “Mežakaija” is published

“Gunars Janovskis was a man of my grandparents’ time. His texts are almost lost, commemorating the slaughtered Latvia. shows exactly how ideas and ideologies (and the media they cover) blur people’s lives, “says Osvalds Zebris

“Osvalds Zebris brings us into a world of spacious symbols and types, where literature is life itself and vice versa.

The message is heard in the voice of the writer Gunars Janovskis, and the only thing that can be felt in it from Osvaldas Zebra is a broader perspective, a kind of hint of what will happen next. As a multi-point between the eras, “Mežakaija” forms a unified Latvian story, in which even in the horrors of war and the burning shadow of Peter’s Tower there is something higher than the indefinite spark of humanity, life, “says the writer Ilze Jansone about the work.

For her part, editor Gundega Blumberga says: “If you get something, it always pays. Also, everyone receives a bill for everything they have done or not done at their own time and place. .

Osvalds Zebris (1975) studied economics and business management at the University of Latvia. He has worked as a journalist and editor for newspapers and magazines. In prose, Osvalds Zebris made his debut in 2010 with the collection of stories “Freedom in Networks”, which was awarded the Latvian Literature of the Year Award in the nomination “The Brightest Debut”. In 2017, the writer received the European Union Literature Prize for his novel In the Shadow of the Rooster Hill (2014). In 2019, the novel “Māra” was published, and in 2021 – a collection of stories “Šaubas”.

The book was created with the support of the State Cultural Capital Fund.

The artist of the book is Jānis Esītis.

About the project “I am …”

In 2018, the publishing house “Dienas Kirjan” started work on a new major project of Latvian literature “Es esmu …”. A total of 26 new works are planned in the new series: 13 novels and 13 monographs on the classics of Latvian literature Aspazija, Anna Brigader, Anšlava Eglīte, Jānis Ezeriņa, Gunars Janovski, Ivandi Kaiju, Vili Lācis, Jānis Poruka, Kārlis Skalbi, Ilze Šķipsna, Andrejs Upīte Veidenbaumu, Jānis Ziemeļnieku.

Authors of novels and monographs are writers Inga Ābele, Andris Akmentiņš, Guntis Berelis, Māris Bērziņš, Inga Gaile, Ilze Jansone, Arno Jundze, Laima Kota, Svens Kuzmins, Gundega Repše, Osvalds Zebris, Andris Zeibots, Inga Žolude and literary scholars Mai Daukste-Silasproģe, Gundega Grīnuma, Māra Grudule, Ieva Kalniņa, Arnis Koroševskis, Sigita Kušnere, Anita Rožkalne, Olga Senkāne, Lita Silova, Ieva Struka, Viesturs Vecgrāvis, Jānis Zālītis. The author and initiator of the project “I am” is the writer and art historian Gundega Repše.

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