On Latvia

Mar 121 min read

Spring Equinox and Lieldienas (Easter) Rites with Folkloric Ensembles “Grodi” and “Garataka.”

Last year (2023) in Riga, I watched the sun rise over the Daugava River at the Spring Equinox celebration hosted by the exquisite...

Mar 112 min read

Legionnaire Day - March 16

The Latvian Legion may be the most complicated, misunderstood and controversial fighting force of the last World War. Here are a few...

Oct 17, 20221 min read

1940 High School Activist Voldemārs Treimanis & the 12 Who Didn't Survive

The high school aged activist in my novels, "Vilz Zarins", is inspired by Voldemārs Treimanis, who was part of the 1940 "Free Latvia"...

Feb 28, 20203 min read

Soundtrack to a Revolution

Subversive 80s rock band Pērkons a stepping stone to freedom in Latvia, and brought to life in a VR Rockumentary directed by Cory McLeod.

Jan 11, 20202 min read

Surviving Eastern Front and Gulag with Optimism Intact

Bankovičs memoir of the Latvian Legion, Gulag prison camp is translated in crisp, haunting language. Reviewer asks what could have

Dec 17, 20191 min read

Saturday is Winter Solstice

Savor the dark. Embrace seclusion and quiet. Sip hot bone broth. Read, introspect, hibernate, be still.

Jan 21, 20196 min read

Nobel Laureate Schiller's address to Baltic Boston on the American Dream

European Project, Baltic Dream, Paths Forward Where American Dream Falters Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale...

Diana Mathur, Author