The Bicki-Books Bundle 1

Herberts Dorbe was a Latvian writer, poet, translator, playwright and primary school teacher. He lived in Russia as a refugee before returning to his hometown of Ventspils, a Baltic port city.  Marking his dedicated engagement to education, the Herberts Memorial Museum presents the ‘Teacher of the Year Award’ in his honour.

Maija Laukmane is a poet, writer and qualified children’s librarian. She is a graduate of the Riga Technical School of Culture and Education and is the author of several poetry collections for adults and children.

Pēters Brūveris was a prominent Latvian writer, translator of poetry, and laureate of the Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature. He was a prolific author and translator (from Azebaijan, Tukish, Lithuanian, Russian, German and other languages!). Brūveris also wrote children’s literature and lyrics for popular musicals and songs. His most notable honours and awards include the Klāvs Elsbergs Prize in 1987, the Poetry Days Award (2001, 2005), the Baltic Assembly Prize in 2004, and the Annual Latvian Literary Award (2006).

Arnolds Auziņš is poet, writer and playwright. He studied philology at the University of Latvia before working in the editing department of Pionieris newspaper and serving on the editorial board of the magazine Draugs. His first collection of poems Smaids [Smile] was published in 1967. His wife Laimdota is a retired teacher. They have two sons and daughters, and are proud of their five grandchildren.

Valdis Grenkovs worked as a marine engineer before writing for a series of Latvian children’s magazines. Often drawing on his interest in the sea and the everyday life of fishermen, his poetry collections for adults and children reveal the humour in the mundane from a child’s perspective.

Reinis Pētersons is one of Latvia’s most prominent illustrators and new generation animation film artists. His auteur animation film Ursus (2012) was shown in more than 90 film festivals across the globe and received widespread critical acclaim. Pētersons has been nominated twice for The Hans Christian Andersen Award (Switzerland), the highest international recognition given to a book illustrator, and also for The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (Sweden).

Gita Treice is a graduate of the Latvian Academy of Art. Her illustration projects range from mathematics textbooks to the children’s magazine Zīlīte. Subsequent to being recognised as the Latvian Artist of the Year (2001), she has received the Annual Prize for Book Publishing (2003), the Riga Award for Outstanding Achievement in Book Design (2007), and the Janis Baltvilks Prize for her contribution to the field of children’s illustration (2018).

Sabine Moore is an illustrator and multidisciplinary artist whose work spans the media of film, animation, performance and, under the alias ‘Waterflower’, music. In 2021 her album ‘Balta Gaisma’ was nominated for the Annual Latvian Music Recording Award for Best Album Design.

Paulis Liepa studied graphic art at the Art Academy of Latvia. His work spans book design, illustration and animation and has received numerous accolades, including the International Graphic Art Biennial of the Baltic Sea Countries Grand Prix in Kaliningrad, Russia (2008), the International Graphic Art Triennial Grand Prix in Krakow, Poland (2012) and the Diena Award of the Year (2013).

Līva Piterāne studied visual communication at the Art Academy of Latvia. She has produced several charming silent picture stories for Kuš! comics, and makes her debut in children’s book illustration with her characteristic delicate watercolour palette in Arnolds Auziņš’s Ice Cream.

Zane Zlemeša is a visual artist whose work has been featured in magazines such as Kuš!, Popper, Stripburger. Layered, textured, detailed, her illustrations are individually characteristic, whether they are depicting an interior, a landscape or an individual.