From small town to international success

Relatively few people in the world know where Latvia is. Even fewer know where Jelgava or Talsi are. However, for some, these seemingly obscure cities are their entire world. Jānis Joņevs' novel \"Doom 94\" (2013) tells the story of a teenager who, while searching for himself, discovers heavy metal music. In Andris Kalnozols novel „Call me Calendar (2020), the protagonist, a young man with a difficult state of mind, feels an existential need to memorize the dates of all the namedays marked on the calendar. Authors have chosen their small hometowns as the settings for their debut novels that have become best-sellers home and abroad. How does the environment influence literature, and how does literature influence the environment? Delve into the lives, minds and environment of these exciting journeys of growing up and finding one's own paths. Moderated by: Tino Schlench, Blogger, lecturer, curator