Māra Zālīte (born 18 February 1952 in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

) is a Siberian-born

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n writer and cultural worker.

Biography

Zālīte's literary works include

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

s, plays,

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

and

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

s. They often deal with historical problems and have symbolic meanings that correspond with mythology and Latvian culture and people. The author's works have been translated in many languages including

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Swedish,

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

, and French. Her first literary works were published in the early 1970s. During the 1980s, Zālīte turned to playwriting, composing librettos for musicals and writing rock operas. Her works have used music by many eminent Latvian artists such as

Raimonds Pauls Ojārs Raimonds Pauls (born 12 January 1936) is a Latvian composer and a pianist who is well known in the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe. He was the Minister of Culture of Latvia from 1988 to 1993. His songs were performed by such popular si ...

and

Jānis Lūsēns Zodiac (, ) was a Latvian space disco band active in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic between 1980 and 1992. The band was extremely popular in the Soviet Union and has been credited by critics as the Soviet answer to the French band Space wh ...

. She has earned many literary prizes and national awards, including the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

, and is considered one of the greatest Latvian social figures. Her first prose work – the autobiographical novel “Five fingers” (2013), earned wide recognition from both readers and members of the writing community.

Early life

Zālīte was born in 1952., in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, to where her family had been deported in 1941. She spent years of her childhood in

until the autumn of 1956 when her parents got the permission to return to their homeland of Latvia. She spent the rest of her childhood in ''Slampes Kalna Ķivuļi''. Zālīte studied elementary and secondary school at Slampes'

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

Career

Zālīte is a graduate from Murjāņi sports boarding school (1970) and Faculty of Philology of the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

(1975) (a former State University). Between years 1974 and 1989, Zālīte worked as a technical assistant at the Writers’ Union of Latvia, as a manager of the New Writers’ Studio and as a poetry consultant for the magazine “Liesma”. In 1989, she became chief editor of the publishing house and magazine '' Karogs'', a position she held until 2000, when she became president of the Latvian Authors’ Association (AKKA/LAA) (2000-2008). She has also been a member of the City Council of the

(1999-2006), chairman of a State Language Commission (2002–2004) as well as a member of Chapter of Orders (2006-2007). She is also a trust member of the National Library Board (since 1998), an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences and one of the 14 founders of “Koknese foundation” (since 2005). Zālīte has been awarded the Three Star Order, Commemorative Medal of Barricades and has received several literary prizes.

Family

Zālīte has been married to Jānis Ķuzulis since 1979, with whom she has two children – Jānis Ķuzulis and Ilze Ķuzule-Skrastiņa as well as three grandchildren – Krišjānis, Emīlija and Marats. She currently lives 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 ...

and often stays at her countryside house in

Tukums Tukums (; ; ) is a town in Latvia and serves as the administrative center of Tukums Municipality. It is located in the eastern part of the historical region of Courland, and with more than 16,000 inhabitants Tukums is the 13th largest settlem ...

Major awards

Vladimir Mayakovsky Award (1982, Georgia) Ojārs Vācietis prize (1989) Aspazija Award (1992) The

Herder Prize The Herder Prize (), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and Southeast Europe whose life and wor ...

(1993, Germany) The Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991 (Barikāžu piemiņas medaļa) (2000) for sinigificant involvement in the Barricades of 1991.

(Trīs zvaigžņu ordenis) (08.11.1995.) for involvement in the Barricades. Cross of Recognition (Atzinības krusts) (12.11.2008) for outstanding merits in social and cultural work, a brilliant creative contribution in Latvian literature and the strengthening of the Latvian language. The International Baltic Sea Region Jānis Baltvilks Prize in Children's Literature and Book Art prize (2012) for the children tale "Tango un Tūtiņa ciemos" (Tango and Tutina on a visit'')''. The Annual Latvian Literary Award (2001; 2004; 2014) for collection of plays "Sauciet to par teātri"; play "Zemes nodoklis" and autobiographical novel "Pieci pirksti" (Five fingers).

Style and genre

At the start of Zālīte's career, during the time of her first significant publication of poem “Balādīte” in the magazine ''Karogs'' in 1972; the main ideas in her poetry were about life and youth in the 1970s — looking for the meaning of life, development of personality, values, and overcoming the problems of life. Alongside with poetry, Zālīte has written drama. In the 1980s, the writer focused more on the philosophical and emotional motifs combining history and modern times as well as referencing ongoing social and political issues, often associated with Latvian culture and mythology. The tragic Latvian fate and nation's longing for

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

is best depicted in the poetry collection “Debesis, debesis” (1988). Initially, her playwriting developed as a continuation of her poetry. She has written a handful of plays and librettos combining strong individual characters with topics of history, myths and national identity, her most popular one being the libretto for the mythic-symbolic rock opera “ The Bearslayer” ("Lāčplēsis") (1987), which became a symbol of the Third Latvian awakening. At the end of the 20th century, Zālīte's 6th poetry collection “Apkārtne” (1997) pictured a person aware of his surroundings and the problems he faces – freedom, chaos, hope, loss and depression. In all of the author's literary career, her works have been strongly influenced by her childhood, which is best depicted in her first prose works – the

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...

s “Five fingers” (2013) and “Paradīzes putni”(2018) that talk about occupation and childhood spent in the Soviet Union's regime. Readers describe these works as poetic, nostalgic and passionate. Māra Zālīte has also released some literary works for children.

Published works

Poetry collections

* ''Vakar zaļajā zālē (All Birds Know This)''. Riga, ''Liesma'', 1977 * ''Rīt varbūt (Perhaps Tomorrow)''. Riga, ''Liesma'', 1979 * ''Nav vārdam vietas (No Place for Words)''. Riga, Liesma, 1985 * ''Debesis, debesis (Heaven, Heaven)''. Riga, ''Liesma'', 1988 * ''Apkārtne (The World Around Me)''. Riga, ''Preses nams'', 1997 * ''Dzeja (Poetry).'' Rīga, ''Atēna'', 2003 * ''Dziesmu rakstā''. Riga, ''Mansards'', 2015

Essay collections

* ''Brīvības tēla pakājē (At the Foot of the Statue of Freedom)''. Australia, ''Australian Latvian Writers' Days and the Latvian Press Association's Australian Branch'', 1990 * ''Kas ticībā sēts (Sowed in Faith)''. Riga, ''Rīga'', 1997

Novels

* ''Pieci pirksti (Five fingers)''. Rīga, Mansards, 2013. * ''Paradīzes putni (Birds of Paradise)''. Rīga, Dienas grāmata, 2018.

Plays

* ''Pilna Māras istabiņa.'' Youth Theatre, Riga, 1983 * ''Tiesa (Trial)'', written 1982. Dailes Theatre, Riga, 1985 * ''Dzīvais ūdens (Living Water)''. Youth Theatre, Riga, 1988 * ''Eža kažociņš (The Hedgehog’s Prickly Coat).'' The Theatre of Valmiera, 1993 * ''Margarēta (Margaret)''. The New Theatre of Riga, 2001 * ''Tobāgo! (Tobago!)''. Dailes Theatre, Riga, 2001 * ''Zemes nodoklis (All Cats are Human''), Dailes Theatre, Riga, 2003 * ''Še Tev žūpu Bērtulis (Surely not Tippler Bertulis)''. Ogre stage, Ogre, 2004 * ''Pērs Gints nav mājās''. Dailes Theatre, Riga, 2007 * ''Lācis''. Dailes Theatre, Riga, 2009 * ''Priekules Ikars''. Dailes Theatre, Riga, 2009

Librettos

* ''Lāčplēsis (The Bearslayer),'' 1986/1987 * ''Meža gulbji (The Wild Swans),'' 1995 * ''Putnu opera (Bird’s Opera),'' 1997 * ''Kaupēn, mans mīļais! (Kaupen, my dear),'' 1998 * ''Indriķa hronika (The Chronicle of Henricus''), 1999 * ''Neglītais pīlēns (The Ugly Duckling),'' 2000 * ''Sfinksa,'' 2000 * ''Hotel Kristina,'' 2006 * ''Leļļu opera,'' 2008 * ''Meierovics,'' 2013

Books for children

* ''Deviņpuiku spēks (Boys to the 9th power)''. Riga, ''Liesma'', 1985 * ''Mamma un tētis kūrortā'' (Mama and Papa at a resort). Riga, ''Dienas Grāmata,'' 2016 * ''Tango un Tūtiņa ciemos (Tango and Tutina on a visit)''. Riga, ''Liels un mazs'', 2017

Other works

* ''To mēs nezinām. Sarunas ar Imantu Ziedoni. Riga, Dienas grāmata'', 2009

References

External links

Official website

Māra Zālīte
on LIAA
Māra Zālīte
at latvianliterature.lv
Māra Zālīte
at gramatas.lv {{DEFAULTSORT:Zalite, Mara 1952 births Living people People from Tukums Municipality Latvian women writers Herder Prize recipients