Festivāla vizuālās identitātes autors: Kirils Kirasirovs
For the sixth time, Rīga will host the Punctum Festival, a program of literary events which, this year, will focus on processes of change, with an emphasis on working together to build a better future. Participants will tackle different future scenarios – literary utopias and anti-utopias, as well as explore the therapeutic and transformative potential of literature. The festival will feature poetry and prose readings, workshops, lectures on bibliotherapy and discussions on inclusive literature. The festival will start with silent readings – a protest against passive social attitudes towards domestic violence.
This year, the Punctum Festival lays a particular emphasis on the accessibility of literature, providing opportunities for people with disabilities to experience literature, along with holding a series of bibliotherapy workshops for different target groups with the goal of introducing them to literature and helping them discover the practice of writing through self-exploration and participation. For writers, meanwhile, the festival provides an opportunity to explore the topics of bibliotherapy and ways of broadening their audiences.
Festival opening. Silent readings Touch the Shadow!
Square in front of the Latvian National Museum of Art (park side), Jaņa Rozentāla laukums 1, Rīga
August 22, 16.00-20.00
Latvia is one of the countries with the highest prevalence and social tolerance of domestic violence. This problem directly affects many people, but it is silenced. In order to further work on identifying ways and words of talking about violence in domestic settings and relationships as well as to draw public attention to it, participants of the Physical Evidence Museum project – they have authored documentary stories about their experiences – have joined forces with poets in creating a book, No One Will Believe You. At the festival opening, the authors and their supporters invite the public and passers-by to take part in “silent readings”, where no words will be spoken aloud, drawing attention to the hidden nature of violence.
Poetry readings Don’t Stop Don’t Be Afraid
Aleponija bar, Ernesta Birznieka-Upīša iela 22, Rīga
August 23, 19.00
The Punctum Festival poetry readings featuring the courageous authors Jan Škrob (Czech Republic, translated by Artis Ostups), Maarten Inghels (Belgium, translated by Ivars Šteinbergs), Ieva Melgalve (Latvia), Sveta Grigorjeva (Estonia, translated by Guntars Godiņš) and Giedrė Kazlauskaitė (Lithuania, translated by Emija Grigorjeva).
Ukrainian Independence Day readings. Dedication to Victoria Amelina
Rainis and Aspazija House, Baznīcas iela 30, Riga
August 24, 18.00
On August 24, Ukrainian Independence Day, the festival will host an event commemorating the writer Victoria Amelina, who was killed in the Russian attack on Kramatorsk. Victoria’s colleagues, acquaintances and friends – Ukrainian writers Sasha Dovzhyk and Daria Kalashnikova, Ukrainian-Polish writers Żanna Słoniowska and ariel rosé, as well as translator Māra Poļakova – will take part in the readings. The event will be hosted by journalist Rita Ruduša.
Discussion and poetry readings Text and the Experience of Sickness
Rainis and Aspazija House, Baznīcas iela 30, Riga
25.08.22 at 18.30
What place do the narratives of contemporary poetry accord to bodies and mental states that do not conform to the social notions of “normality”? What is the relationship between the experience of illness and literary creativity? Does the way experiences of illness are depicted and represented shape and change ideas about being ill, attitudes towards the ill person and their place in society. If so, how? Is contemporary Latvian literature interested in the experience of illness and disability, and are authors able and willing to write about these experiences? The event will be feature the poets Katrīna Rudzīte, Evelīna Andžāne, Evelīna Mūrniece, Elīna Vendija Rībena and Linda Gabarajeva.
Prose readings Anti-Utopia
Latvian Academy of Arts, Building K2, Kalpaka bulvāris 13, Rīga
August 29, 19.00
The festival’s prose readings will bring together prominent writers whose works explore the topic of change – the Belarusian writer Viktar Martinowich (translated by Māra Poļakova), whose first novel Paranoia was banned in Belarus, the Estonian writer Mehiss Heinsar (translated by Maima Grīnberga), as well as Latvian authors Anna Auziņa and Elvīra Bloma.
Closing of the festival. A lecture on bibliotherapy and collective readings
Latvian Academy of Arts, Building K2, Kalpaka bulvāris 13, Rīga
August 31, 17.00
At the closing of the Punctum Festival we invite you to Introduction to Bibliotherapy, a lecture by poet and bibliotherapist Berit Kaschan (Estonia), where she will talk about the possibilities of literature to heal and give advice to authors who want to make their work more accessible by interacting with different audiences. Writers Osvalds Zebris, Ieva Melgalve and Agnese Radziņa will lead readings with the participation of workshop participants. During the festival, the writers will explore contemporary literature together with seniors and people with visual or hearing impairments, address topics of social importance and create literary works in the presence of art therapist Lība Bērziņa. The workshop series and the closing event are organized in cooperation with the Duntes Ozoli daycare center and the Latvian Library for the Blind.
The festival is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, the Rīga City Council, the EU’s Creative Europe Program and is a partner of the Versopolis European poetry platform.
Visual identity by Kirils Kirasirovs.
The events will be catered for people with reduced mobility and visual impairments, and a sign language interpreter will be provided for people with hearing impairments. If you need assistance, please contact our accessibility coordinator Lība Bērziņa at berzina.liba@gmail.com or 28649014.
Punctum Festival is a program of literary events organized by the Punctum literary magazine. The festival has been running since 2017, bringing together representatives of different cultural disciplines in interdisciplinary events. In 2019, the festival received a special prize of the Annual Latvian Literary Award for the festival dedicated to Mona Kroma.