Latvian literary journals to celebrate loneliness on Valentine’s Day / Article

Four Latvian literary and art magazines are organizing the first “Loneliness Festival” on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, as a demonstration of solidarity against the challenges faced by cultural periodical publishers.

Loneliness Festival to Highlight Support for Cultural Publishers

The event, hosted at the KK von Stricka villa, will be free and open to the public throughout the day, offering a variety of cultural events and opportunities to support the participating publications: “Strāva”, “Tvērums”, “Avīzes Nosakums” and “Asalwaysunknown” (AAU).

Attendees can purchase literature, art, and thought-related publications and merchandise, and participate in literary readings, magazine launch ceremonies, performances, a “Loneliness Cafe”, a poetry disco, a printing workshop, a psycho-performance titled “Session with Publishers. Dirty Laundry”, and concerts.

Organizers stated the festival is “an act of solidarity – it is a resistance to the feeling of lack of support that publishers of cultural periodicals regularly face.” The festival also aims to explore diverse perspectives on loneliness, offering spaces to embrace solitude, find connection, or reflect on the theme through art.

Ivars Šteinbergs, editor of “Strāva”, Valters Liberts, editor-in-chief of “Avīzes Nosakums”, and Katrīna Juhna, creative director of “AAU”, discussed the importance of cultural documentation and the industry’s problems on Latvian Radio’s “Cultural Rondo.”

Juhna explained the magazines aim to “collect and archive” stories from artists about their experiences and inspirations, creating visually rich and interdisciplinary editions.

Liberts noted that five out of six issues of “Avīzes Nosakums” in 2025 received funding from the Latvian State Fund for the Promotion of Literature, but most of the magazine’s 40+ issues have been self-financed.

Šteinbergs celebrated the fourth anniversary of “Strāva”, noting it initially relied on self-financing before receiving support from the Latvian Literature Foundation. He described the magazine as having “very strong literary theory content” and a focus on contemporary poetry.

Šteinbergs emphasized the value of cooperation among publishers, stating, “it is more meaningful, more friendly, and ultimately more profitable to cooperate, rather than to step on each other’s heads.”

More details about the “Loneliness Festival” can be found here.