Calm Beasts

Gita Treice is a graduate of the Latvian Academy of Art, having studied in the Environmental Art and Graphic Design Departments, and the master class of Professor Aleksandrs Dembo. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Art in 1999, and served on the jury of the book art competition Zelta ābele in 2007 and 2008. Since 1993 she has regularly participated in many group exhibitions (almost 30 altogether) and has held four solo exhibitions. Her images are mainly philosophical, painted in an original technique where texture is emphasised as a means of expression, and she often uses wood as a base for small works of art. Gita has illustrated textbooks in mathematics and Latvian language, illustrations for the children’s magazine Zīlīte, and a series of drawings for “Radio Fairy-Tales” cassettes, among other projects. Since 1997 she has regularly received acclaim in Baltic States book art competitions (2007) and special recognition for achievement in the field of book design (2004). In 2001 she received the title of Artist of the Year and the award for the most original artistic idea. Altogether, more than twenty of the books created by Treice have won awards. She was included in the White Ravens List of the International Youth Library (Munich) and was nominated for the Annual Prize for Book Publishing 2001 for the collection of folk-song “Christmas is Here” (Ziemassvētki klāt! Compiled by I. Kušnere. R.: Jumava, 2001). She was also nominated for the 2004 Annual Prize for Book Publishing for the book “Year of the Dormouse” (Susura gads. S. Kvaskova. R.: Jumava, 2004). She received the 2003 Annual Prize for Book Publishing for her contribution to book design in that year. In the book art competition Zelta ābele 2008 she received the award for “Achievement of the Year”. The book Ķiparu ļerpatu Čieps by A. Jundze, with her original illustrations (R.: Pētergailis, 2008) was nominated for the Jānis Baltvilks Prize 2009. Žanete Vēvere Pasqualini is a translator and literary agent. She graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Latvia, in 1995, at the same time completing a course in Italian language at the University of Perugia.She was the first Latvian Consul in Rome after Latvia regained independence, and now divides her time between Latvia and Italy. She currently she works as a literary agent for Latvia, promoting Latvian literature abroad and dedicating some of her time to literary translation. In her translations, Žanete enjoys the challenge of rendering the text precisely while keeping the target language as natural and flowing as possible. Her translations into English include: novel “The Green Crow” by Kristīne Ulberga (Peter Owen Press); the short stories “The Birds of Ķīpsala island” by Dace Rukšāne and “The Shakes” by Svens Kuzmins (anthologised in “The Book of Riga”, Comma Press); children’s poetry “The Noisy Classroom” by Ieva Flamingo (Emma Press); the children’s book “Dog Town” by Luīze Pastore (Firefly); “Minimisms” by Imants Ziedonis (Viegli), and the play “History Research Commission” by Alvis Hermanis and company (Jaunais Rīgas Teātris).Kate Wakeling is a poet and musicologist. Her debut poetry collection for children, Moon Juice, won the CLiPPA in 2017 and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Her second collection, Cloud Soup, was shortlisted for the CLiPPA in 2022 and named a book of the month in the Guardian and the Scotsman. A pamphlet of Kate’s poetry for adults, The Rainbow Faults, is published by The Rialto. Kate studied music at Cambridge University and holds a PhD in Balinese gamelan music from SOAS.