Ligija Purinaša (Latvia)

Ligija Purinaša (1991) is a poet and journalist who writes in Latgalian and Latvian. She has published two collections of poems: “Sīvīte” (“Woman”, 2019), which was shortlisted in the Best Debut category at the Annual Latvian Literature Awards in 2020, and “Pierobežas” (“Borderlands”, 2022), which was longlisted in the Best Poetry Collection category at said awards in 2023. 

In 2020, her poems were included in a bilingual Latgalian poetry anthology entitled The Last Model / Pādejais modeļs (Francis Boutle Publishers). Her poems have also been translated into German and Czech. Soon her third book will be published – a collection of prose in verse titled “The Magnificat” (2025). 

She continues to work on her first novel about women and their relationship with the environment. Purinaša is interested in social history, women’s rights, and art as a means of inner freedom.