Kristīne UIberga (born in Riga, 1979) is a Latvian writer of novels for youth and adults. She studied theology at the University of Latvia. Her first novel Es grāmatas nelasu [I Don't Read Books] (2008, published also in English), was awarded the Jānis Baltvilks Prize prior to publication as the best manuscript in the fiction category for young adults. Her inspiration to write for young people came as a challenge to create novels that would encourage young people to read contemporary literature. The book was successful and popular, and two sequels were published. Her first novel for adults Zaļā vārna [The Green Crow] was published in 2011 and won both the Raimonds Gerkens Prize as best original work of literature and the Annual Latvian Literature Award in 2012. It is a book about the desire to be understood and search for the self, about change. Luckily, the Green Crow is there to help, and the search turns into a breathtaking journey. Ulberga has also published several short stories in Latvian literary magazines, newspapers, and anthologies. Currently, Ulberga is working on her next novels and teaches creative writing to young adults.
Zem kupola [Under the Cupola]. Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2023.
Kas mammai somā? [Mom's bag] Riga: Zvaigzne ABC, 2022.
Kaizivs, kurš neēda cilvēkus [Kayfish Who Didn't Eat People] Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2021.
Kariete uz Santjago [Santiago]. Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2020.
Tur [There]. "We.Latvia, 20th Century" series. Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2017.
Zaļā vārna [The Green Crow]. Riga: Dienas Grāmata, 2011.
Es grāmatas nelasu 2 [I Don’t Read Books 2]. Riga: Brīvais Mustangs, 2009.
Virtuālais eņģelis [Virtual Angel]. Riga: ALIS, 2008.
Es grāmatas nelasu [I Don’t Read Books]. Riga: ALIS, 2008.
Books to fall for

There
There (Tur)
Events in this novel unfold in Latvia during the eighties when a degree of change can be felt in the air yet the Soviet regime is still working against the population. There is still no right to freedom of assembly, including the right to associate with any religious group or anything else close to one’s heart yet not coinciding with Soviet ideology. The events described in the novel are based on true stories. One of the protagonists in the novel – a teenage boy named Pāvels - gets himself lost in the forest, his aim that of hiding from his own life, and his terrible secret. In the depths of the forest, he comes across a house inhabited by an enigmatic group of people. He has nowhere else to go so decides to stay with these weird, long-haired people who, other than their appearance, also think very differently from anyone else he has ever met. Whilst there, and in order to prove the existence of these people once he gets out of the forest, Pāvels starts keeping a diary.The text has several parallel plot lines and time merges into a single coil while still following a single thread.
Contact: Dace Sparāne-Freimane, dace.sparane-freimane@dgramata.lv
There_by_K.Ulberga.pdf

Title
:There
Title*
:Tur
Authors
:Genre
:Fiction
Publisher
:Dienas Grāmata
Pages
:248
Year
:2017
Foreign rights
:All rights available

Green Crow
Green Crow (Zaļā vārna )
The Green Crow is a novel that explores the relationship between a human being and a bird, and is based on the assumption that such a bird, symbolizing profoundly experienced, true freedom, lives within us all. The green crow – a rare, conceited, boisterous creature – is that of the novel’s protagonist. She first meets the bird early in her childhood when the Green Crow emerges from her imaginary forest, a place to which the protagonist habitually runs to hide from the daily hurt and injustices she suffers, where she finds consolation in the tree house she has made herself. Searching for shelter and solace, she befriends the Green Crow. The main character’s family is very well-off and she wants for nothing. However, one day she finds herself in a psychiatric clinic following a spate of peculiar behavior, culminating in her telling her family about the Green Crow. The novel has two plotlines. One follows the protagonist’s adventures with the Green Crow, the other her search for some meaning to her life along the corridors of a mental institution, following her realization that family life has failed to confirm that life is beautiful and that anything more is needed.
Contact: Dace Sparāne-Freimane, dace.sparane-freimane@dgramata.lv
GreenCrow_by_K.Ulberga.pdf

Title
:Green Crow
Title*
:Zaļā vārna
Authors
:Genre
:Fiction
Publisher
:Dienas Grāmata
Pages
:192
Year
:2012
Foreign rights
:Rights sold to Russia and United Kingdom
About Tur/There, novel in the We. Latvia. The 20th Century historical series // Diena.lv, 2017 [LV]
Interview with Kristīne Ulberga about Tur/There // NABA radio, 2017 [LV]
Interview with Kristīne Ulberga // Diena.lv, 2013 [LV]
Ieva Melgalve, Ākstu ceļš, review of Santiago // Online magazine Punctum, 2020 [LV]
Bārbala Simsone, Buen Camino, review of Santiago // Diena.lv, 2020 [LV]
Lizzy Siddal, review of The Green Crow // Lizzy's Literary Life blog, 2018 [EN]
Anna Blasiak, review of The Green Crow // European Literature Network, 2018 [EN]
Bārbala Simsone, Viņi – tur, mēs – te, review of There // Diena.lv, 2017 [LV]
Ieva Viese-Vigula, Tie tur, review of There // Online magazine Punctum, 2017 [LV]
Kristīne Sadovska. Ziedošās ciešanas, review of The Green Crow // Diena.lv, 2012 [LV]
Antonija Skopa, Zaļā Vārna nav ne zaļa, ne vārna, review of The Green Crow // Online magazine Satori, 2012 [LV]
2012, the Annual Latvian Literature Award for The Green Crow
2011, Raimonds Gerkens Prize as best original work of literature for The Green Crow
2008, Jānis Baltvilks Prize for I Don't Read Books

The Green Crow
The Green Crow (Zaļā vārna)

Title
: The Green CrowTitle*
: Zaļā vārnaAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Fiction
Language
:English
Publisher
:Peter Owen Publishers, UK
Pages
:239
Year
:2018
Copyrights
:The author; the publisher; the translator;
Synopsis
:The novel follows two narratives. The present day describes the day to day life of a young woman in a psychiatric hospital. The other strand comprises the stories the woman narrates to her carriers, revealing how she ends up in her present perdicament.

Иностранная литература 3 (2019)
Иностранная литература 3 (2019) (Ārzemju literatūra)

Title
: Иностранная литература 3 (2019)Title*
: Ārzemju literatūraAuthors
: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,Translated by
: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,Genre
:Anthology
Language
:Russian
Publisher
:Иностранная литература, Russia
Pages
:287
Year
:2019
Synopsis
:Literary magazine on foreign literature

Լատվիայի յամանակակից արձակ
Լատվիայի յամանակակից արձակ (Mūsdienu latviešu proza)

Title
: Լատվիայի յամանակակից արձակTitle*
: Mūsdienu latviešu prozaAuthors
: , , , , , , , , ,Translated by
:Genre
:Anthology
Language
:Armenian
Publisher
:Antares, Armenia
Pages
:382
Year
:2013
Synopsis
:Anthology of contemporary Latvian prose