A Look Back at the Autumn School of Criticism at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia

From October 23 to 27, 2023, the Autumn School of Criticism took place at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia (UL FH) within the framework of the state research programme (VPP) project “Narrative, Form, and Voice: The Embeddedness of Literature in Culture and Society” (VPP-LETONIKA-2022/3-0003). The school brought together more than twenty master’s and doctoral students in the humanities from the University of Latvia, University of Liepāja, and Ventspils University of Applied Sciences.

The School of Criticism was organized in cooperation with the journal Domuzīme. Masterclasses were led by literary critic Anda Baklāne, UL ILFA researcher and poet Ivars Šteinbergs, the editorial team of Domuzīme—Rudīte Kalpiņa, Jānis Vādons, and Mārtiņš Mintaurs—as well as Professor Janīna Kursīte (UL Faculty of Humanities) and Associate Professor Sandra Meškova (Daugavpils University).

Ivars Šteinbergs explained that in his workshop the students’ task was to formulate a reading of a poem, and that the participants’ interpretations turned out to be not only conceptually diverse—placing emphasis on different levels of the text—but also stylistically varied.

“I was very pleased and happy about this, because I believe that good criticism—including learning how to practice criticism—is both a promoter of democracy and one of its embodiments,” Šteinbergs noted.

Elvis Friks, a doctoral student at the UL Faculty of Humanities, also pointed out key benefits of the Autumn School of Criticism:
“It was valuable that the lecturers shared their individual recipes from the kitchen of criticism. For example, I worked intensively on a flash review with Ivars Šteinbergs and immediately received practical advice. I discovered that criticism can be a personal conversation with a text. I refreshed my knowledge of gynocriticism and the rhythm of poetic language. Anda Baklāne skillfully connected us through a digital humanities tool—Figma. The ideas written together were freely accessible to everyone.”

Meanwhile, Ieva Īzāka-Harjo, a master’s student in Creative Writing at the University of Liepāja, emphasized that participation in the Autumn School of Criticism was a valuable experience, offering the opportunity to listen to professionals in cultural criticism for five consecutive evenings. She also noted that the program format was well suited to a school of criticism: it was intensive, yet held remotely, thus allowing interested participants to join from anywhere in Latvia.

“Students were also able to work practically—discussing the characteristics of high-quality criticism, reflecting on critics whose work they admire, searching for the ‘female awakening narrative’ in Latvian literature, and taking part in a poetry and criticism masterclass.

At the end, participants were invited to write a review of a short story or a group of poems published in cultural periodicals, receiving feedback with constructive comments and suggestions on how to improve their writing technique. The three most useful things I am taking away from this week are: new knowledge, practical exercises that provided a good way to apply what we learned at the school, and encouragement to write reviews,” commented Ieva Īzāka-Harjo.

Many thanks to all participants for taking part, and to the professional team of the Autumn School of Criticism for the valuable experience they provided!