The late spring issue of the mostly literary Žoklis magazine, published by the Žoklis association.
The issue includes poems by Idas Tētis, Inese Zandere and Haralds Matulis, as well as the “spring poems” and “sports poems” series the actress Guna Zariņa wrote in the 1990s, accompanied by an introduction by the author. The issue’s title poem is Kirils Ēcis’ visual work Vecmīlgrāvja 1. līnija, 35. The appendix, printed on blue paper, features the series of poems titled “What would I do if it weren’t for you all” by the young poet Aleksandrs Barons. Likewise featured is Johannes Barbarus’ series of poems The Integral of Revolution Under My Wing in a translation by Guntars Godiņš.
Kārlis Vērdiņš resumes the criticism series titled “100 Latvian poetry books ‘you must read before you die’” with a piece on Austra Skujiņa’s Poems (Dzejas, 1932). Choreographer Agate Bankava and Klāvs Mellis continue the series in which different people are invited to reflect upon a single poem by a Latvian writer, with Bankava turning to Anna Auziņa’s long poem Consciousness (Apziņa) and Klāvs Mellis reflecting upon Einārs Pelšs’ poem 2017. Actor Kaspars Znotiņš has expanded a couple of considerations and episodes related to poetry. Raimonds Ķirķis embarks on an archaeology of texts dedicated to Capri island, whereas Sofija Anna Kozlova discusses the metaphysics of travel and time. Lauris Veips offers the start of a column titled Classical Troubles drawing parallels between the sirens’ episode of the Odyssey and the phenomenon of clickbait. Jānis Joņevs offers a piece of flash fiction featuring eavesdropped conversations.
In the issue’s editorial introduction Marija Luīze Meļķe writes that “Literature is not closed or finished, and everyone who knows how to write can say what they think on any white field they stumble upon. And anyone who doesn’t know how to write but can hold a pencil can draw a penis, should they choose to. But please, let’s not sever our ties, at least not before we die. Say something before it comes. Read something.”
The child of a group of young people, the Žoklis mostly literary magazine focuses on creative young people in all forms of art, promoting an interdisciplinary practice of writing and reading. As people from different fields and generations are invited to publish their pieces in Žoklis, there’s a diversity that ensures the vitality of the publication and brings diverse color to the fabric of Latvian culture. Five young literati – Raimonds Ķirķis, Marija Luīze Meļķe, Lauris Veips, Roberts Vilsons and Kirils Ēcis – are in charge of the magazine, which is published by the Žoklis association.