The Jānis Baltvilks Prize in Writing has been awarded this year to the poet Marts Pujāts for his collection of poems “Ej nu ej”, illustrated by Lāsma Pujāte and published by the publishing house “Liels un mazs”, informed the award project manager Silvija Tretyakova.
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To commemorate the brightest authors and artists of children’s literature, the Jānis Baltvilks Awards were presented today for the 17th time in a special ceremony at the Botanical Garden of the University of Latvia (UL), at the same time celebrating the writer’s birthday.
Reinis Pētersons has been honored as the best children’s and youth book artist for illustrations for Inese Zandere’s story “Boy with a Dog. Second Book. Bunker”, Anti Sarah’s story “Pert sprukās”, as well as Daniils Harms’ collection of poems “A Very Terrible Event” published Big and small “.
JSC “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) award “Jaunaudze” for debut in children’s literature and book art was presented to Kitty Role for illustrations for Liene Bērziņa’s literary tale “Ķiverēns”, published by “Be the Bear”. The international winners of the Jānis Baltvilks Prize are the French writer Delfīne de Vigāna and the translator Inta Šmite for the novel “From and I”, published by “Jānis Rozes suppliers”.
The winners received the prize created by the artist Inese Brants – the porcelain “White Wolf” boat – and the cash prize, as well as the opportunity to live and work for one month at the International House of Writers and Translators. The winner of the LVM Award “Jaunaudze” also received a white porcelain wand and a cash prize, the aim of which is to promote growth.
In cooperation with the portal “Delfi”, everyone had the opportunity to support their favorite author or artist from the Baltvilka Award nominees and participate in the readers’ vote. Līva Vecvagare became the leader of the vote and the winner of the “Delfi” sympathy award for the book “Mārtiņš Datortārpiņš” published by “Zvaigzne ABC”.
Not only the winners were congratulated at the ceremony, but also all the nominees of the 2021 Baltvilka Award – Ēriks Bērziņa, Inese Paklone, Dzintars Tilaks, Juris Zvirgzdiņš, Inga Žolude, Pujāte, Vivianna Maria Stanislavska, Mārtiņš Zutis, Anita Rupeika and Līva Vecvagare.
In turn, solo songs with Baltvilks’ poetry created especially for this event had a musical premiere at the ceremony. The songwriter is Madara Pētersone, they were performed by mezzo-soprano Zane Rozenfelde and accordionist Māris Rozenfelds. The drama and course of the award ceremony “Planet Book” was directed by Ance Strazda and Klāvs Mellis.
This year, the jury included literary scholar Ilze Stikāne, literary scholar and teacher Lita Silova, art historian and critic Aiga Dzalbe, art critic Ieva Lejasmeijere, as well as members of the public – director Kārlis Krūmiņš and the leader of the children’s vocal group “Knīpas un Sanna”.
The award was taken care of and jointly organized by the Latvian Council for Children and Youth Literature (LBJLP) in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, the International House of Writers and Translators, LVM, Riga City Council, the Latvian National Library and the French Institute in Latvia.
The White Wolf Award has been presented since 2005. The tasks of the award are to promote the development of children’s literature in Latvia, its international recognition, as well as to strengthen the tradition of reading books in society. LBJLP, as the Latvian branch of the International Council for Children and Youth Literature, continues to purposefully highlight and nominate candidates for the most prestigious children’s literature awards in the world – the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the International Council for Children and Youth Literature.
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