Gunārs Saliņš

Gunars Saliņš

Gunars Salins in 1964, photographer: Bruno Rozitis
Born (1924-04-21)21 April 1924
Dobele, Latvia
Died 29 June 2010(2010-06-29) (aged 86)
Glen Ridge, New Jersey, US
Alma mater Upsala College
Occupation Poet
Spouse(s) Jautrīte Saliņa

Gunars Saliņš (April 21, 1924 – June 29, 2010) was a modernist poet within the Latvian lyric poetry tradition. He became a leading voice of the "Hell's Kitchen artists" (Elles ķēķis) - a Latvian emigre artist community in the U.S. which flourished in the 1950s and 60s, named after the neighborhood in New York where it originated.[1] In his youth he was inspired by the Latvian poet Aleksandrs Čaks, and later by writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke, Guillaume Apollinaire, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Dylan Thomas. Saliņš' imagery playfully explored transformational and metaphysical elements in this world and beyond, often incorporating his personal experiences with allusions to myth, art, and ancient Latvian folklore - a process he referred to as "orpheism". Gunars Saliņš' poetry was widely circulated within the Latvian diaspora post-WWII; later his work was rediscovered and championed in Latvia in the post-Soviet era. In 2000 Saliņš was awarded the Order of the Three Stars [2] by the Republic of Latvia.

portrait of Gunars Saliņš & Jautrīte Saliņa

Academic and family life

Gunars Saliņš was born on April 21, 1924, in Dobele, Latvia, where his father was the principal of the local school. Gunars followed his father's footsteps, graduating from the Teachers' Training Institute in Jelgava, Latvia in 1944. Soon after, the Soviet regime re-occupied the country, and he together with his wife, Jautrite, set forth to start a new life elsewhere. After spending five years in a displaced persons' camp in Augsburg, Germany, they were granted permission to emigrate to the United States, eventually settling in New Jersey. They both completed their university studies in the US: he became a professor of psychology and sociology, and taught at Union College from 1955-1996, having earned his B.A. at Upsala College, New Jersey, and his M.A. at the New School for Social Research, New York. Jautrite Saliņš earned her doctorate in German Literature at Rutgers University, and went on to teach German language and literature until her retirement from Kean College, New Jersey. She later completed a 3-volume family memoir and assisted with the publication of Gunars' collected poems. They have three children: Laris, Laila and Lalita; and four grandchildren: Andrejs, Niklavs, Alida and Aldis. Gunars (known by his family and friends as Gonka) died in his home on June 29, 2010.[2]

Literary activity

Awards

Gunars Saliņš was awarded multiple awards for his poetry. Thrice he won the cultural award of the World Federation of Free Latvians (PBLA), in 1968, in 1980 and in 2008. In 1982 he received the Zinaida Lazda award for his poetry collection Rendez-vous (Satikšanās). In 2000 he was awarded the Order of the Three Stars by the Latvian government, and in 2006 he was awarded the "Yearly Literature Award" from the Writers' Association of Latvia, honoring his lifetime achievement in poetry.:[2] "Writings - Poetry"

Works

Poetry Collections

In translation

English

References

  1. ↑ Walter M. Cummins (1993). Shifting Borders: East European Poetries of the Eighties. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8386-3497-4.
  2. 1 2 3 Vērdiņš, Kārlis (June 6, 2010). "Gunars Saliņš". IR (Latbian literary journal). Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  3. ↑ Zeltins, Teodors (1962). Dzejas un Sejas. Brooklyn, NY: Gramatu Draugs. ASIN B0027BGSZG.
  4. ↑ Ezergailis, Inta. "The Intervention of Art in the Poetry of Gunars Saliņš". Lithuanian Quarterly of Arts and Sciences. LITUANUS. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.