Ikstena is actively involved in formulating the cultural and political processes of Latvia, having been chair of both the National Culture Advisory Council and the board of the Latvian Literature Center. An organizer with Pauls Bankovskis and Maima Grīnberga of the annual Prose Readings (since 1998), she is regularly included among readers and presenters of papers at seminars and conferences abroad. She has written the scenario for a documentary film about Latvian writers in exile, Pasaules Nepasaule (A World Apart), 2001.

She received the Ministry of Culture Award in Literature (1998), the Annual Award in Literature (2001), the Spīdola Stipend (2001), the Diena Cultural Award (2003 and 2006), and the Baltic Assembly Prize (2006). She shares time between Latvia, Georgia and Germany with her husband Georgian-German writer Levan Beridze.

Short Story Collections

• Dzīves stāsti [Life Stories] Riga: Atēna, 2004

• Pasakas ar beigām [Fairy-tales with Endings], Riga:

Pētergailis, 2002

• Maldīgas romances [Misleading Romances], Riga: Jāņa

sēta, 1997

• Nieki un izpriecas [Trifles and Pleasures], Riga: Karogs,

1995

Novels

• Amour Fou, Riga: Dienas grāmata, 2009

• Jaunavas mācība [Education of a Virgin], Riga: Atēna, 2001

• Dzīves svinēšana [A Celebration of Life], Riga: Atēna, 1998

Biographies

• Māra Zālīte: Silkworm Enticement, pub. Pētergailis (2003)

• Vija Vētra: Dance and the Soul, pub. Atēna (2001)

• Brunis Rubess: Surprisingly Enough, pub. Nordik (1999)

• Anna Rūmane-Ķeniņa: Returning, pub. Garā Pupa (1993)

• The Undefined Beeing. Imants Ziedonis. Dienas Grāmata

(2006)

Translated works

• Livets fest/ Celebration of Life, translated by K. Lomholdt,

pub. Rosinante/Copenhagen (2001) – Danish

• Elu pьhitsus/Celebration of Life, translated by I. Saksa,

pub. Huma/Tallinn (2003) – Estonian

ª Gyvanimas ira gyvanimas/Education of Virgin, Vaga,

Vilnius, 2003, Lithuanian

About The Translator

Born in Riga, Latvia, poet and translator Margita Gailitis immigrated to Canada as a child. Gailitis returned to Riga in 1998 to work at the Translation and Terminology Center as part of a Canadian International Development Agency initiative. Today Gailitis focuses her energy on literary translation and poetry, having translated some of Latvia’s finest poetry, prose and dramaturgy, including Edvins Raups’ then touch me here (Guernica 2010). Gailitis’ own poetry has been widely published and has won her awards from both the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. In 2011, she was awarded the prestigious Order of the Three Stars in Latvia for her work on behalf of Latvian writers.

About Nora Ikstena’s Writing

[R]eading of the short novel A Celebration of Life by Nora Ikstena is an aesthetical experience … The title would make one expect a depiction of life affirming life … however the emotion of the novel is serious, aching – strangely surreal and beautifully rich … At the start of the book, Eleonora has just died and in accordance with her wishes, seven people unfamiliar to her daughter have been invited to the funeral. After the ceremony, the small party gathers in Eleonora’s house and over the course of the night, each one describes their connection and links to the deceased. The stories resemble dreams, they are surreal; there is a desire to call them romantic as the tone of the text and the fine, perfect composition reminds of Karen Blixen … – Christa Leve Poulsen, Børsen, Denmark