Astrid Ivask
Astrid Ivask (born Astrīde Helēna Hartmane, Latvian Astrīde Ivaska; also ; August 7, 1926 – March 24, 2015)[1] was a Latvian-American poet.
Biography
She was born Astrīde Helēna Hartmane in Riga, the daughter of Mārtiņš Hartmanis, a Latvian Army General, and Irma Marija Hartmane. Her brother was computer scientist Juris Hartmanis. Following the 1940 Soviet occupation of Latvia, General Hartmanis was imprisoned by the Soviet Union.[1] He was executed in 1941, but his family would not learn of his fate until after the fall of the USSR in 1991.[2]
Ivask, her mother, and brother left Latvia for
In 1967 they moved to Norman, Oklahoma, where Ivar Ivask became a professor of modern languages and literatures at the University of Oklahoma. She served as an adjunct professor teaching Russian, German and French. Ivar Ivask was editor of the university's literary journal World Literature Today and the couple hosted many authors and critics in their home and participated in readings and literary events.[1][3]
In 1991, the couple moved to County Cork, Ireland, but Ivark Ivask died in 1992. Astrid Ivask returned to Riga in 2001.[1][3]
Work
Ivask's first poetry collection was Ezera kristības ("Baptism of the Lake", 1966). Other collections include Ziemas tiesa ("Winter's Judgment", 1968), Solis silos (“A Step in the Forest”, 1973), Līču loki ("Curving Bays", 1981), At the Fallow’s Edge (1981), Gaisma ievainoja ("The Light Wounded", 1982). Most of her work was written in Latvian, but one collection, Oklahoma Poems (1990), was written in English. Her collected poems is Wordings (1987).[1][2][4][5]
Her other works include Pārsteigumi un atklājumi ("Surprises and Discoveries", 1984), children's poems and stories, and book of poetic travel sketches, Līču loki: Ainas un ainavas ("Curving Bays: Views and Landscapes", 1981), illustrated by the photography of Ivar Ivask.[3]
Awards and honors
She was awarded the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "A Tribute to Astrid Ivask: A Literary Light". World Literature Today. April 2, 2015. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
- ^ a b c Aistars, Zinta (April 8, 2008). "Astride Ivaska (1926-)". Her Circle. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
- ^ a b c d e f Ezergailis, Inta (2001). "Astride Ivaska". In Serafin, Steven (ed.). Twentieth-Century Eastern European Writers: Third Series. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 232. Gale.
- ^ ISBN 9780824085476.
- ^ ISBN 9780195086362.