Inga Gaile (born 29 June 1976, in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

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) is a Latvian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

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, and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Biography

Gaile has written poetry collections for adults and children. Her works often focus on feminist issues as well as issues related to different stigmatised groups. She has won the Latvian Literature Award and the Poetry Days Festival prize. Gaile has translated poetry from Russian into Latvian, and her poems have also been translated into various languages including

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...

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, and

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. She is President of Latvia

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Activism

Gaile is a prominent member of the Latvian feminist movement and is a founder of the

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

group "Sieviešu stendaps/Women's Stand-Up".

Works

Poetry

*''Laiks bija iemīlējies'' (Time Had Grown Enamoured). Rīga: Pētergailis, 1999. *''Raudāt nedrīkst smieties'' (Cry Not Laugh). Rīga: Nordik, 2004. *''Kūku Marija'' (Maria, the Cake Killer). Rīga: Orbita, 2007 *''Migla'' (Fog). Rīga: Mansards, 2012. *''Vai otrā grupa mani dzird?'' (Can the Back Row Hear Me?). Rīga: Liels un mazs, 2014. *''Lieldienas'' (Easter). Rīga: Neputns, 2018. *''Nakts'' (Night). Rīga: Mansards, 2021.

Prose

*''Stikli'' (Glass Shards). Novel. Rīga: Dienas Grāmata, 2016. *''Neredzamie'' (Invisible). Novel. Rīga: Zvaigzne ABC, 2018. *''Piena ceļi'' (Milky ways). Stories. Rīga: Mansards, 2018. *''Skaistās'' (The Beauties). Novel. Rīga: Dienas grāmata, 2019. *''Rakstītāja'' (The Writer). Novel. Rīga: Dienas grāmata, 2020.

Plays

*''Āda'' (Skin). Rīga: Dirty Deal Teatro, 2011. *''Mūsu Silvija debesīs'' (Our Sylvia, Who Art in Heaven). Rīga: Ģertrūdes ielas teātris, 2013. *''Trauki'' (The Dishes), in collaboration with Marta E. Martinsone. Rīga: Dirty Deal Teatro, 2014.

Works in translation

*''30 Questions People Don’t Ask: The Selected Poems of Inga Gaile''. Translated in English by Ieva Lešinska. Warrensburg,

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: Pleiades Press; 2018. * ''Klaas'' (Glass Shards). Translated into Estonian by Aive Mandel. Tallinn: Looming, 2018.

Awards

*''The Annual Latvian Literary Award'' for Can the Back Row Hear Me?, 2015. *''Prose Readings Award'' for the short story Piena ceļi/ Milky Ways, 2012. *''Latvju Teksti Magazine Award'' for Fog, 2012. *''Ojārs Vācietis Award'' for Fog, 2012. *''Poetry Days Award'' for Cake Mary, 2007. *''Ojārs Vācietis Award'' for Cry Not Laugh, 2004. *''Anna Dagda Foundation Award'' for Cry Not Laugh, 2004. *''Klāvs Elsbergs Award'' for Time Had Grown Enamoured, 1999.

References

External links

Inga Gaile interview

Inga Gaile piedalīsies ASV Nacionālajā grāmatu festivālā un #iamintrovert karikatūru izstādes atklāšanā

Ryan translates poems by Inga Gaile and Baiba Damberg in Words About Words , Ryan Van Winkle
1976 births Living people Writers from Riga 20th-century Latvian poets 20th-century Latvian women writers 21st-century Latvian poets 21st-century Latvian women writers 21st-century dramatists and playwrights Latvian dramatists and playwrights Women dramatists and playwrights Latvian Academy of Culture alumni {{Latvia-writer-stub