Congratulations to CDTPS Professor Baņuta Rubess who has received the laureate award from the Anšlavs Eglītis and Veronika Janelsiņa Foundation, which bestows an annual award of US$20,000 in literature and the arts to writers and artists who promote and enrich contemporary Latvian art and literature while living outside of Latvia.
Eglītis was Latvia’s most popular novelist before and after WWII. He became a refugee and found a home in Los Angeles, where he continued to write novels and film reviews. His wife Veronika was a painter who designed all his book covers.
Quoted and translated from the Foundation’s press release:
“Rubess’ intellectual works rely on especially rigorous academic foundations: she is a Rhodes scholar with a doctorate from the University of Oxford. Later she gained an MFA from the University of Guelph. Rubess writes literary works as well as academic ones, and the broad sweep of her prose touches literature, history, politics, journalism and many more genres.
“Yet Rubess’ primary métier has always been the theatre — she has been active as a playwright, director, actor, and organizer in North America and Europe. From 1998 to 2012, Rubess lived and worked in Latvia with great achievements. Since she returned to Canada she has been teaching at the University of Toronto and over the years has given lectures at other universities in the US and in Europe. Her artistic work is rooted in the traditions of modern experimental theatre, and her productions often unite music, dance, and drama. Her work is rooted in her deep knowledge of history and literature and the fundamental conviction that the dramatic arts can change the world for the better. Themes of feminism and diaspora often appear in her creations, as does the struggle of humanity to survive and to rise above a violent and merciless world.”
You can learn more about Professor Rubess’ life and career at banuta.com.
The CDTPS wishes to congratulate Professor Rubess on her outstanding achievement.