Ēcis is a shooting star of contemporary Latvian poetry and is active as a poet, actor, scriptwriter, and member of the band ALEJAS. In an interview, he once said: “My poetic world begins where language ceases to be a system and language becomes a dance.” His poems zoom in on that brief yet intense time between childhood and adulthood. They do nothing less than fervently celebrate turmoil and zones of ambivalence, from armpit hair suddenly sprouting up to the first love that turns into an obsession. The brief joy of secret escapades is as present in these lines as the tragedy of sudden death that tears apart the delicate bonds of friendship.

Airy spirits, glimmering crows, flesh rocks: Ásta Fanney’s poems oscillate between the sagas and pop culture, between fantasy and nature writing. Her lines cover the page like lichens on the wall of a house. References to mineral and organic matter intertwine and invoke the nature of Iceland, within which the poetic voice embeds itself. Her lines are littered with signposts, border beacons, flashing lights, and flowers that bring the reader on a journey through dream and waking, truth and illusion.

Kathrin Bach in conversation with Kirils Ēcis and Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir.

The event will be interpreted into German from English. With kind support by ECHOO Konferenzdolmetschen.

Project management: Timo Berger