Poetry publisher wins Latvian, Estonian Language Promotion Award

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna and Latvian Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš announced the winner of the Latvian and Estonian Language Promotion Award at the REaD bookshop in Tallinn on Friday.
Hea Lugu Publishers won the award for publishing the anthology of Latvian poetry titled "The Ball of Introverts".
"By publishing the anthology of Latvian poetry, Hea Lugu has brought us an entire new generation of Latvian poets, who would have remained undiscovered by Estonian readers," Tsahkna said at the presentation ceremony. "The publisher has made a unique contribution to the cultural relations of our nations."
The foreign minister noted that culturally, Latvia can be considered the closest neighbor of Estonia, and it is culture that brings depth, substance and color to the relations between our people.
"Yet we speak different languages," Tsahkna noted.
"To prevent language from becoming a barrier that separates us, it is a joy to present the Latvian and Estonian Language Promotion Award for the 14th time, inspiring to boost Estonian culture in Latvia and Latvian culture in Estonia."

The anthology of poetry contains works by 18 Latvian poets, chosen and translated by Contra and Mikk Grīns.
"The previous collection of Latvian poetry in Estonian was published in 1997, therefore, The Ball of Introverts fills an important gap," Tsahkna said.
Hea Lugu Publishers was founded in 2011, but its roots date back to 1994 and the launch of Maalehe Raamat. Vallo Kalvik is the managing director. Hea Lugu is known for high-quality science fiction and non-fiction, as well as fiction, history books, children's literature and practical handbooks.
The aim of the award is to enhance knowledge of the Latvian and Estonian languages and to recognize the achievements of Latvian and Estonian translators, linguists, teachers and managers of language learning projects in the promotion of the Latvian and Estonian languages.
The monetary value of the award is €3,000 and the Award Fund receives equal contributions from the ministries of foreign affairs of Latvia and Estonia. The jury of the prize includes representatives from the foreign ministries of both countries as well as language and literature experts.
The award was issued for the fourteenth time this year. Previous winners are Maima Grīnberga (2009, 2013), Guntars Godinš (2010, 2014, 2019), Kalev Kalkun (2011), Margus Konnula alias Contra (2015), Valts Ernštreits (2016), Livia Viitol (2017), Rūta Karma (2018), Ilze Tālberga (2020), Lembit Vaba (2021) and Daila Ozola (2022).

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Editor: Kristina Kersa