Baiba E. Bičole (May 1931 – December 24, 2021) was a Latvian-born American poet.

Biography

Baiba E. Bičole was born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

in May 1931, to Semigallian parents who were both literary critics - her father was a literary historian and her mother a poet and essayist. Her family fled the 1944 Soviet invasion of Latvia and emigrated to the US in 1950. Bičole became part of the " Hell's Kitchen artists" school of Latvian exile poets, centered around the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

area. Her first volume of poetry, ''Atrita,'' was published in 1966 and won the fourth biennial Zinaīda Lazda Prize for Poetry in 1967. Her other collections include ''Ceļos ''(1969), ''Burot'' ("To Cast Spells", 1976), ''Grie'os'' ("I Turn", 1981), and ''Atgriežos'' ("I Return", 1991). She also served as associate editor of the

Latvian language Latvian (, ), also known as Lettish, is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken in the Baltic region, and is the language of the Latvians. It is the official language of Latvia ...

New York newspaper '' Laiks'' ("Time"). Bičole married the Latvian artist Ilmārs Rumpēters and they had three children, Arvils, Artis, and Rita. Arvils Rumpēters was also a poet and died in 2000. Bičole died at her apartment in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

on December 24, 2021, at the age of 90.

References

1931 births 2021 deaths Latvian women poets Latvian World War II refugees Writers from Riga Latvian emigrants to the United States {{US-poet-stub