Kārlis Vērdiņš (born July 28, 1979 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

) is a Latvian poet.

Biography

Vērdiņš grew up in

Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duch ...

. He studied for his B.A. and M.A. in Cultural Theory at the Latvian Academy of Culture. In 2009 he received his Ph.D. in

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

from the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

. Since 2007 he has worked for the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, at the University of Latvia.

Writing

Vērdiņš is the author of many academic papers and essays on literature, both in Latvian and other languages. He is also a literary critic. He has published four volumes of poetry in Latvian - "Ledlauži" (Icebreakers, 2001, 2nd edition 2009), "Biezpiens ar krējumu" (Cottage Cheese with Sour Cream, 2004), "Es" (I, 2008) and "Pieaugušie" (Adults, 2015) as well as a children's book, "Burtiņu zupa" (Alphabet Soup, 2007). Vērdiņš has also written librettos and song lyrics for composers such as

Ēriks Ešenvalds Ēriks Ešenvalds (born January 26, 1977) is a Latvian composer. From 2011 to 2013 he was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. Biography Ēriks Ešenvalds was born in Priekule, Latvia in 1977. He studie ...

, Andris Dzenītis,

Gabriel Jackson Gabriel Jackson may refer to: * Gabriel Jackson (composer) Gabriel Jackson (born 1962 in Hamilton, Bermuda) is an English composer. He is a three-time winner of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors British Composer Award. Fr ...

Kārlis Lācis Kārlis Lācis (born September 21, 1977) is a Latvian contemporary composer. Along with the scores for theatre productions, movies, and musical arrangements, a large part of his work is dedicated to vocal and choral music, symphonic, and instrume ...

, and has published translations of

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

, T. S. Eliot,

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

Charles Simic Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; born May 9, 1938), known as Charles Simic, is a Serbian American poet and former co-poetry editor of the ''Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for ''The World Doesn't ...

Georg Trakl Georg Trakl (3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem " Grodek", which he wr ...

Lev Rubinstein Lev Semyonovich Rubinstein (russian: link=no, Лев Семёнович Рубинштейн) is a Russian poet, essayist, and social activist. He is a founder and member of Moscow Conceptualism.Jacek Dehnel Jacek Maria Dehnel (born 1 May 1980 in Gdańsk, Poland) is a Polish poet, writer, translator and painter. Life and work He graduated from the Stefan Żeromski High School No. 5 in Gdańsk, where he excelled in Humanities. Dehnel studied at the ...

Konstantin Biebl Konstantin Biebl (26 February 1898, Slavětín – 12 November 1951, Prague) was a Czech poet and writer. His first collection of poems was released in 1923, and his last in 1951, the year of his death by suicide. During that time he also travel ...

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

and other authors. His own poetry has been translated in many languages: "Titry" (translated by Semen Khanin, in Russian, 2003), "Niosłem ci kanapeczkę" (translated by

Jacek Dehnel Jacek Maria Dehnel (born 1 May 1980 in Gdańsk, Poland) is a Polish poet, writer, translator and painter. Life and work He graduated from the Stefan Żeromski High School No. 5 in Gdańsk, where he excelled in Humanities. Dehnel studied at the ...

, in Polish, 2009), "Já" (translated by Pavel Štoll, in Czech, 2013) and "Come to Me" (translated by Ieva Lešinska, in English, 2015). His monograph "The Social and Political Dimensions of the Latvian Prose Poem" was published by Pisa University Press in 2010. Vērdiņš has received prizes from the annual poetry festival in Latvia (2008) and from the newspaper "Diena" (2001 and 2008), as well as the annual Literature prize for best children's book of the year (2007). In 2012, he represented Latvia at the Poetry Parnassus festival – part of the Cultural Olympiad in London. His poem "Come to Me" was included in the list of the fifty greatest modern love poems, chosen by poetry specialists at the London's

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

in 2014. A selection of Vērdiņš' poems, translated into English, was published by

Arc Publications Arc Publications, also known as Arc, is an independent publishing house in the UK, publishing contemporary poetry from new and established writers from the UK and abroad, specialising in the work of international poets writing in English and the ...

in 2015. When reviewing this book the poet and critic

Gregory Woods Gregory Woods (born 1953 in Egypt) is a British poet. He was the Chair in Gay and Lesbian Studies at Nottingham Trent University from 1998 to 2013. He is the author of five books of literary and LGBT studies criticism, and seven poetry collect ...

wrote, "his first person is singularly hard to pin down, apparently detached while involved, precise while vague, inventing stuff while accurately recording memory. The voices he adopts comment wryly on a world in which nothing could surprise us, even while everything takes our breath away. The reader finds she has to check the ground beneath her feet."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verdins, Karlis 1979 births Living people Writers from Riga People from Jelgava Latvian male poets 21st-century Latvian poets 21st-century male writers 21st-century Latvian writers University of Latvia alumni Latvian Academy of Culture alumni