Born in Latvia, I’ve lived in the UK for almost two decades now. Since graduating with a BA and an MA degree in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, I’ve honed my craft as a literary translator through various workshops and mentorships, developing awareness of what makes a good translation and how to adapt the text for a British audience without losing important cultural references.

LITERARY TRANSLATIONS

• 2023 to present – Translating essays and marketing materials for Rundāle Palace Musuem in Latvia.
  
• 2022 to present – Translating various marketing materials and show notes for the Latvian National Opera and Ballet.
  
• 2022-2023 – Translated the Latvian bestselling crime novel Mans Nabaga Pirāts (My Poor Pirate) by Jurģis Liepnieks, available as paperback and e-book.
  
• 2023 – An extract from Justīne Kļava’s play Ladies published in the leading literary translations publication, Asymptote Journal. A full translation of the play was also published in the leading North American theatrical and translation review, The Mercurian. A staged reading was performed in Chicago the same year at the theatre festival International Voices Project.
  
• 2022 – Translated marketing materials for NATO.
  
• 2021/22 – Took part in the National Centre for Writing Emerging Literay Translators programme, mentored by Kaija Straumanis, the Editorial Director of Open Letter Books.
  
  

• 2021 – My translation of the long story “Tetovētāja piektā stunda” (The Twenty-fifth Hour) by Alvils Bergs from his collection “Divi stāsti par Barsu” (Two Tales About Barca) was longlisted for British Comparative Literature Association John Dryden Translation Competition 2020/21.
• 2020 – Took part in the Theatre Translators Mentorship by Foreign Affairs, a theatre company based in East London. The mentorship culminated with a two-day digital showcase, where an extract of Ladies by Justīne Kļava was performed in a staged reading by the Foreign Affairs ensemble.
• 2019 – Participated in Translators’ Conference in Riga, organised and sponsored by the platform Latvian Literature.
• 2018 – Took part in the British Centre for Literary Translations Creative Writing and Literary Translations Summer School at the University of East Anglia. Participated in a Baltic translations workshop, led by Bill Swainson (previosly Senior Commissioning Editor at Bloomsbury)
• 2018 – Took part in the Latvian Poetry Workshop, organised by Modern Poetry in Translation.
• 2015 to 2019 – Translated press releases, book blurbs, worked on prose and poetry sample translations for the Latvian publishing house Pētergailis, whom I represented at the London Book Fair in 2018 and 2019.
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THEATRE TRANSLATIONS SPECIALISM

My portfolio of theatre translations contains more than ten translations of plays and musicals by prominent Latvian playwrights.

 

WORKS BY THE PLAYWRIGHT JUSTĪNE KĻAVA

• “Dāmas” (Ladies) – 2020
• “Dvēseļu Utenis” (Bazaar of Souls) – 2017
•  Holy Night for the Beast – 2016
• “Gerač, mans brāli!” (H, Brother Mine!) – 2014
• “Brēmenes Muzikanti” (Town Musicians of Bremen) – 2012
  

WORKS BY THE PLAYWRIGHT, SCREENWRITER AND DIRECTOR LAURIS GUNDARS

• The musical “CABARET Siberia” (CABARET Siberia) – 2022
• “Asinsbalss” (The Bloodline) – 2019
• The musical “Dziedi!” (Sing!) – 2017
• “Meimena” (Maymana) – 2016
• “Latviešu Kāzas” (The Latvian Wedding) – 2014
  

WORKS BY THE ACTRESS AND PLAYWRIGHT ANCE MUIŽNIECE

“Justīnes Istaba” (Justine’s Room) – 2019