The Livonian poet Valts Ernštreits was nominated for the Latvju Teksti poetry prize in 2014, and won the Kindred Nations’ award for his book Livonian Literary Language. He talks about the Livonian literary scene and how it has survived over the years.
Tell us about the Livonian language.
Livonian is a Finnic language indigenous to Latvia. According to a 2011 census, there are 250 people who identify as Livonian in Latvia today. The Livonian language is listed in UNESCO’s Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger as critically endangered and is spoken by just over 20 people. Three poets actively writing in Livonian – myself, Baiba Damberga and Ķempi Kārl – can be found amongst them. This year, our bilingual Livonian and English poetry book Trilium/Trillium will become the first collection of Livonian literature in English.
What themes, objects or characters appear in Livonian literature?
In the 1930s, there were more than 30 Livonian poets and fiction writers amongst a population of 1,000 Livonian speakers. They wrote about the land and language, and fishers' everyday lives. At that time, fishing was the main income for most Livonians.
There are fewer Livonian-language writers today, but common themes, objects and characters are more difficult to define. If you read contemporary Livonian literature, you might notice references to borders throughout history, and rejection of the outer world's attempts to label Livonians as 'extinct'. In Latvian journals and literature, there are references to the 'last Livonian', and claims that Livonians disappeared in the 13th century.
'Language defines not only what we say, but the way we think. It carries cultural background with it, tradition and much more.'
How do Livonian writers find a place in the wider Latvian and Baltic literature scenes?
As well as writing about Livonian life and identity, Livonians are active in translating and publishing Livonian literature – mainly poetry – into other languages like Latvian or Estonian.
Livonians are fortunate to have plenty of cultural activists and friends in their homeland and abroad. Organisations helping to develop modern Livonian culture include the non-governmental organisations Līvõ kultūr sidām (Livonian Cultural Centre) and International Society of Livonian Friends. Latvian cultural financing institutions also support Livonian arts.
Livonian authors have been nominated for several of Latvia’s cultural awards, competing equally alongside Latvian colleagues. The bilingual poetry book Kui sūolõbõd līvlizt / Kā iznirst lībieši (Livonian Emergence) was nominated for Dienas gada balva kultūrā (Diena newspaper's annual award of culture) in 2011 and the Baltic Book art competition 2012.
Several Livonian books were nominated for Latvia’s annual competition Zelta Ābele (The golden apple-tree) in 2012. The Livonian researcher Renāte Blumberga won the Baltic Assembly prize for her studies on Livonian culture, and the Latvian state recognised the Livonian documentary writer Baiba Šuvcāne for her Latvian-language books about Livonian villages.
'If you read contemporary Livonian literature, you might notice references to borders throughout history, and rejection of the outer world's attempts to label Livonians as 'extinct'.'
How do Livonian writers form links with other writers who work in minority languages?
Livonian writers mostly work locally and regionally, where they have contacts with writers publishing in both majority and minority languages.
I think Livonian writers, and people who work in connected fields like publishing and performance, have two things in common. Being connected with their Livonian past and living traditions, and being open to the world. Livonians are also competitive, and aim to be equal or even better than any other nation, regardless of size.
In a way, it is a tradition. The first Livonian books – Matthew's gospels in Eastern and Western Livonian – were published in 1863 in London by Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, the exiled cousin of Napoleon Bonaparte. The first Livonian poet and translator of one of those books, Jāņ Prints, not only started the Livonian and Latvian poetry tradition as the author of the second poetry book ever published in Latvian, but also created and revived many words in Livonian.
What common struggles and successes do writers in minority languages talk about?
Technological development gives writers and publishers more opportunity to preserve minority languages. You can now produce a YouTube video series in a minority language. You can publish a book for just a few hundred euros and you can form language communities over social networks. You can also speed up language research by creating online dictionaries, automated translation features and language schools.
For people who write in and preserve minority languages, there is one important struggle: to keep creating new things. The way we treat our past is important, and so is the way we protect it. Producing new work in a minority language contributes to the future of that language and the culture it is a part of.
'Many people are first acquainted with a minority literature through translation.'
You're a translator as well as an author. What role do translators have in bringing minority language literature to the world?
A translator is the person who helps people from different cultures understand each other. Language defines not only what we say, but the way we think. It carries cultural background with it, tradition and much more. So a translator's task is complicated. We have to make an idea work in another language.
Many people are first acquainted with a minority literature through translation. That first encounter could lead to more. The translator can inspire or ruin the reader's continued interest.
How do you imagine the future of Livonian literature?
Livonian literature will continue as long as people speak the language. People have talked about the death of the 'last Livonian' since the 19th century. Since 2010, the media has reported three 'last Livonians', and yet another 'last one' always emerges.
Livonian literature, in my opinion, will remain one of the smallest and greatest literatures in Europe.
The British Council works with The London Book Fair to organise a series of public author events, with this year's Market Focus on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. You can get to know the writers and the cultural programmes here.
The Market Focus programme focuses on the publishing market of one country, to promote the cultural opportunities that exist there.
Find more of our opportunities in literature here.