Illustrations by Anete Melece

— The Annual Latvian Literature Prize 2015 for Inga Gaile’s poems

— A Special Mention to Anete Melece at the 2015 International Baltic Book Art Contest for her illustrations and book design

— International Baltic Sea Region Jānis Baltvilks Prize in Children’s Literature and Book Art 2015 (the Jury’s Special Mention)

The daily life of a family is like a point of intersection in which the daily events and relationships of children and adults meet up. This book is a similar point of intersection that can be read by adults as well as children of all ages.  Alongside her witty illustrations, Anete Melece has created games, exercises and colouring pages.
Contacts:  pasts@lielsmazs.lv, www.lielsmazs.lv

       The Glass Shards takes place on a specific threshold of time, when all the events that could lead to the culmination of a war are already in motion. Through the individual struggles and decisions of its characters, the novel tries to make sense of how what happened in Latvia during World War II came to be. Since the novel came out, it seems clear that it was written with a desperate attempt to understand the mechanics of what lead us, as a society, to war, as well as the individual relationships within a society.

      The main character of the novel is Magdalena Cirule—a patient from a psychoneurological hospital who is pregnant with the child of her attending physician. Magdalena is Dr. Karlis Vilks-Krideners’ ideal patient; he came to Latvia from Germany after his grandmother refused to continue financing his psychotherapy research, which was considered rather avant-garde, even by the hospital in Munich where he worked. But Karlis can’t continue practicing in Munich because he believes he could better help patients through treatments that don’t use chemical or mechanical means.

        Magdalena suffers from a high level of anxiety, and has a tendency to black out after being touched—either intentionally or unintentionally. But the hospital director, Valdis Gudsbergs, has concerns over whether the hospital has enough room for all its patients, and thinks that Magdalena should have been sent home to her parents ages ago. However, Magdalena’s father is the mayor of Rezekne, and her parents worry that their daughter’s presence at home will negatively impact their public image. It is for this reason they are willing to pay for Magdalena’s “luxury suite” at the Strenci Psychoneurological Hospital, an institution where the middle-class patients frequently end up sleeping in the corridors.

Contacts: dace.sparane-freimane@dgramata.lv www.dgramata.lv