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On 27 August 2025, during a joint meeting of the Governments of Latvia and Estonia in Tartu, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries participated in a ceremony for the Languages Award of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Estonia. This year, the award was presented to the Estonian poet and translator Margus Konnula aka Contra for his translation into Estonian of a collection of Latvian conceptual poetry, Alfabeedi sünnimaa (Alfabēta dzimtene in Latvian). A novel for teenagers by a Latvian writer Osvalds Zebris, Maarja (Māra in Latvian), in Contra’s translation was also released in 2024.
In her congratulatory address, the Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže noted that the presentation of the language prize in Tartu has a symbolic dimension.
“The route that many Latvian students took to Dorpat was like a pilgrimage for knowledge and revelation. Both on the Latvian and Estonian side, there is interest in the culture, language and literature of the other country, and there is an ever-fresh content on offer. I am particularly pleased that this year’s winner is the poet and translator Contra. He has put an all-out effort into translating experimental and conceptual poetry.” said the Latvian Foreign Minister.
The collection of conceptual poetry, Alfabēta dzimtene, showcases works by 12 Latvian poets – Anna Auziņa, Elvīra Bloma, Kirils Ēcis, Raimonds Ķirķis, Aivars Madris, Artis Ostups, Einārs Pelšs, Ivars Šteinbergs, Krišjānis Zeļģis, Žebers, Kārlis Vērdiņš, and Arvis Viguls.
As part of her visit to Tartu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, joined a meeting of the Latvian and Estonian Governments, at which she exchanged views on the deepening of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Baiba Braže also met with the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna, and in the run-up to the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen on 29–30 August, discussed support to Ukraine and intensifying pressure on Russia.
Background information
The Languages Award of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Estonia (formerly known as the Estonian-Latvian Translators Award) was established back in 2010. The aim of the Languages Award is to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries through promoting the learning and use of the Latvian and Estonian languages, the activity of Latvian-Estonian and Estonian-Latvian translators in translating fiction and political, scientific and other texts. The value of the Languages Award is 5,000 euros, made up of equal contributions from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries.
The award has been previously bestowed on Maima Grīnberga (2009, 2012), Guntars Godiņš (2010, 2013, 2018), Kalev Kalkun (2011), Margus Konnula alias Contra (2014), Valts Ernštreits (2015), Livia Viitol (2016), Rūta Karma (2017), Ilze Tālberga (2019), Lembit Vaba (2020), Daila Ozola (2021), Hea Lugu Publishers (2022), and Karl Pajusalu (2023).