Madara Gruntmane

- Turkey -

Madara Gruntmane-Dujana (b. 1981), a Latvian poet from Liepāja in Latvia, now lives in Riga and is known as a poet, festival organizer, pianist, and artist. Her direct, almost scenic poems delve into experiences of violence and their aftermath, focusing on the female body and the articulation of trauma. Since her poetry debut in 2015 with Narkozes(which won the Latvian Literature Annual Award Readers’ Choice), Gruntmane has published two more volumes of poetry, Dzērājmeitiņa (Drunk Daddy’s Girl, 2018) and Aizmīlestība (Afterlove, 2022) expanding her reach.


Gruntmane’s work, psychologically precise and rooted in personal experience, sidesteps ornamental expression for a straightforward, unflinching tone. Her poetry explores themes from Latvia’s independence and societal pressures on women to the solitude reflected in Old Riga’s cobblestones, from abortion’s pain to the tenderness of motherhood, and from the anguish of abandonment to love’s brilliance. Like waves retreating and crashing along a shore, her verses explore wide boulevards while uncovering life’s hidden sorrows. Her powerful imagery, full of life’s traces, confesses without restraint and maintains an honest, provocative, and authentic voice that accepts readers as they are, yet leaves them transformed.

 

Gruntmane’s work, psychologically precise and rooted in personal experience, sidesteps ornamental expression for a straightforward, unflinching tone that draws readers into a landscape of raw emotional experiences. Her work traverses themes ranging from the legacy of Latvia’s turbulent independence to the societal expectations placed on women, from the loneliness and yearning felt in Old Riga’s historic streets to the pain and release found in the female body’s rhythms. The tenderness of motherhood, the trauma of abandonment, and the scars of violence are presented alongside the vivacity of love’s intensity and the deep melancholy of life’s losses.

 

In poems like “Drunk Daddy’s Girl,” Gruntmane delves into the complexities of father-daughter relationships, interwoven with the effects of alcohol and family rupture, capturing a struggle with belonging and identity. This recurring motif reflects her nuanced view of trauma and resilience, portrayed through symbols of family and personal relationships. The poem’s imagery, from the "sweat-white whirlpool" to the childhood spent in graveyards, captures both a physical and emotional landscape marked by survival and the bittersweet weight of memory. Her lines about “thick lips, a wet tongue” express a sensuality interwoven with vulnerability, embodying both strength and the desire for acceptance.

 

Her approach to body and trauma is relentless, as seen in poems like the one where “they licked each other’s wounds, transforming into werewolves,” merging intimacy with an almost feral anguish. The body in Gruntmane’s work is not merely a vessel; it is a battlefield and sanctuary, bearing the scars of past encounters. She often frames these experiences with an almost ritualistic honesty, as in the lines where she invites flies to “line-dance” over her body—an image of surrender that balances between the grotesque and the serene.

 

Gruntmane’s poetry also contemplates self-worth and existential insignificance, often embracing paradoxical metaphors. She writes of “crumbling castles without rooms” and mothers strolling through “fields of dandelions with empty strollers”—haunting images that suggest both decay and continuity, absence and presence. This balance of life’s beauty and sorrow is quintessentially hers, a style that feels both profoundly Latvian and universally human.

 

With a voice that does not shy away from the ugly or the raw, Gruntmane’s work engages readers in an honest dialogue, offering insights that transcend cultural boundaries while deeply rooted in her Latvian heritage. Through her confessional, psychologically astute verses, she creates an intimacy and trust that allows readers to confront uncomfortable truths within themselves. Like waves that retreat and crash, her poems unveil new depths with each reading, leaving readers profoundly transformed.

 

In addition to her literary achievements, Gruntmane—also a performance artist and composer—earned the Latvian Radio Culture Prize in 2019, and she has participated in major international events, including the 2018 London Book Fair and as an honorary Writing Fellow at the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program. Respected for her avoidance of populist trends, Gruntmane is recognized as one of Latvian poetry’s foremost global representatives. Her multidisciplinary talents extend to visual art, with exhibitions at venues like Riga Art Space, Tallinn Art Hall, the Kommagene Biennial in Turkey, and the Video Poetry Festival in Athens.

 

Narcoses, her first book published in the UK, was released as part of the "Parthian Baltic" project and launched at the Parthian poetry festival and Her second UK release, Drunk Daddy's Girl, was published by Poetry London in 2024. Madara Gruntmane’s reach extended to Turkish readers with a translated edition of her work, published by Yitikülke Publishing House in 2020 and translated by Efe Duyan. This publication has further strengthened her international presence, allowing her themes of resilience, trauma, and personal insight to resonate with an even broader audience.

 

Written by Efe Duyan

More about the poet

Poetry

  1. Drunk Daddy’s Girl / Dzērājmeitiņa

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  10. a prayer / Lūgšana