Wisdom and Spirit. Ed. Jane Gurski, photography Christopher J. Beeger. Bethany Lifeline. Bethany Care Society. 1995. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ISBN 0-9699593-0-3

ERNA DZELME

When Erna Dzelme visits her homeland for the first time in over fifty years, she may just go in disguise. In Latvia, she will pretend to be an elderly lady without a unique history, with nothing special to distinguish her. Perhaps she will fool people, perhaps not.

She considers disguising her identity because those who know her there – and many do – will suggest that she do poetry readings, performances, and book signings. That’s because Erna is an accomplished writer, whose poetry and letters are well known to Latvians in many countries.

Born in Latvia in 1906, Erna was trained as an artist and pianist. She only began writing after she settled in Australia, where she struggled with two young children and life on a hot and dusty farm. Her husband scoffed at her artistic pursuits so Erna wrote. Writing is something she could do privately, in stolen moments.

Erna has had many books published, some containing short stories, several more containing poetry. Today she reads literature in English, French, German, Russian and Latvian, and plays the piano when she can. Recently her work took on greater meaning when the break-up of the USSR allowed her books to be distributed in Latvia. Now that Latvians have read her work, and have been delighted with it, Erna is also delighted, because she believes them to be her true audience.

Erna cherishes the memories that she brought with her from Latvia. In fact, her pen name, ‘Kikure’, is the name of the family farm on which she grew up, and which burned to the ground many years ago. Erna worries about the pilgrimage to Latvia, not only because of the publicity that might surround her visit, but also because she knows how much that landscape has changed.

She also worries about her people. The free market is something Erna experienced a long time ago in Australia. In Latvia, though, the struggle to survive and operate successfully in a free market society has only just begun.

With or without a disguise, the important thing is this: that Erna Dzelme will have the chance to witness again the landscape that has helped shape her poetry for decades.

I feel as though I must once again
harness the old bay
and return home
from my long sojourning.
– Erna Kikure

Robin Wheeler is a Calgary freelance writer and editor with a love for local history (currently manifesting itself in the renovation of a very old house). In the past year she has written advertising, feature articles, scripts, and technical manuals, and has spent many hours visiting with older adults who tell fantastic stories of days gone by.

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Erna Dzelme is a very interesting person, an internationally recognized writer, a wonderful mother, a strong and intelligent woman, a wise and charming elder, who has led a full and complex life on three Continents.

She was born in Latvia in 1906. She trained as a musician (piano, which she still plays daily) and a visual artist. She made her living in Latvia as an artist and teacher. She travelled and studied in Europe.

Her life has been disrupted by two World Wars. In 1919 her father was shot by the Bolsheviks. Her mother never remarried. She ran the family property and brought up her two small daughters on her own. In 1941 her sister and her three small children were taken to Siberia by the Russians to spend the next 18 years there in prison camps. Erna never saw them again and her sister has recently died.

I was born in 1942. In 1944, our family had to leave Latvia and went to Germany as refugees or “displaced persons” to live in migrant camps. My sister was born there, m grandmother (Erna’s mother) died there.

In 1949 we emigrated to Australia to begin again in migrant camps. Later, my father bought a small farm. Life was very difficult and the farm produced very poorly, because we did not have any real knowledge of that kind of farming in that kind of different climate etc. My mother tried to continue her artwork, but my father would not let her. She turned to writing in secret, in a few odd spare moments. She found a mentor in one of the most respected Latvian writers who lived in Australia. Her work gained recognition and began to be published. Recently, two books of the correspondence between Erna and her mentor have been published.
And so on and so on. There is much to tell.

When my sister and I married, we travelled and have lived and worked in Europe and now I am in Canada. In the past 25 years Erna has spent her time travelling back and forth to live with one or the other of us. She continues to write and be published. In 1992 she was awarded the Janis Jaunsudrabins prize, a biennial international literary award, a kind of Latvian “Nobel prize” for her achievement.

Erna has always been keenly interested in the world around her, in whatever part of the world she happens to be. She observes it with much insight and writes about it, no about nostalgia for the past or for her lost homeland. Until recently, her work could not be sent to Latvia. That has now changed for which she is very grateful, as she feels her true audience is there, in contemporary Latvia. She reads current literature in English, French, German, Russian and Latvian. Her pursuit of contemporary ideas has been quite remarkable and has made her a valuable friend to us and to many much younger. It has also meant she has been an intelligent and insightful supporter and best critic of our work and that of others in the fields of art, literature and music.

If all goes well, we plan a family trip to Latvia next spring and will take Erna with us to revisit her “home” for the first time in more than 50 years.*

One of her books, Artava, has two essays on her work in English, one by me, the other by Austra Hart (Australia). It also includes drawings, which complement but do not illustrate the text, by my sister. It was designed by Nelson Vigneault (Canada).

Erna’s acknowledgement of the contributions by Austra and Nelson:

Special thanks go to Austra Graudiņš for her contribution, sincerely and ably given in willing response to a request made at unreasonably short notice.

To Nelson Vigneault go admiration and appreciation for his generosity in sharing his time, skill and talent. This volume results from his vision of a possibility and his perseverance in the belief that “it is worth it to make it happen.”

— Inese Birstins, 1994

* Dzidra, Nelson and I did go to Latvia in 1995. Unfortunately, Erna’s weakened health did not allow her to go (she had suffered a stroke 1993.