Writers and translators often maintain that their real home is language. In whatever tongue they speak or create, wherever they live or travel, ultimately their only real home is language-both a rational and an irrational miracle, which helps them recreate reality: to give voice to, and to tell of, their own experience and that of the world through poetry, prose, drama and translation. The English author Virginia Woolf proposed that writers need few worldly goods in order to create-just money and a room of their own. This need is more keenly felt in today’s society, where a writer, like everyone else, is caught up in the nervous flow of daily life. It is, therefore, no wonder that creative centres for writers and translators have become so highly valued and well-loved, particularly in Europe. For a short while, you are away from your usual existence, from the everyday and life’s responsibilities, and can allow yourself the pleasure of being a full-time writer. You recreate reality and are together with colleagues: brothers and sisters in language. You feel calm in the knowledge that in this rational and pragmatic world there are many others who, like you, devote themselves to the difficult, beautiful and exclusive task that is working with language. The Baltic Centre for Writers and Translators in Visby, Gotland, Ledig House in America, Casa Pantrovà in Switzerland, the Writers’ and Translators’ House in Käsmu, Estonia, and many, many others are now joined by Ventspils Writers’ and Translators’ House in Latvia. Here, on the vast world map, is another place where language lives, where experiences meet, where each writer tells the same ancient mystery-of life, death and love-in his or her own language. The historic former town hall, located on the square between the renewed city library and the Lutheran church, has been remodelled as a centre for writers and translators from around the world, providing an opportunity for them to meet and work. The writers’ studies have modern facilities but have not lost a touch of history and are ready to offer a warm haven to the Ventspils House language-travellers. The inner garden and sauna create a feeling that the process of writing has some connection to faith and divine revelation, accompanied by a succumbing to some sinful joys... Here, everything is in one place-solitude and conversation, work and respite, daily bread and wine. When weary of work, residents can wander round Ventspils-a well-maintained coastal city, where, in each house, street, yard and square, the past is just as important as the future. Having walked through a green park, the language-traveller suddenly finds himself on the beach. He is free to go wherever his eye takes him, in one direction or the other-kilometres of beautiful, white, sandy coastline stretch into the far distance: just the sky and sea on one side, a strip of green forest on the other, and the walker, who treads the sand and opens his mind to the creative moment. Who knows, perhaps this century’s most beautiful literary stories of life and love will be created right here, at the Ventspils house of language. Let it happen!

Nora Ikstena

he aim of the establishment of the International Writers’ and Translators’ House is to create a multifunctional international writer’s and translator’s centre, which promotes the development of literature, encourages cross-cultural dialogue and introduces the Latvian literary process to international circulation; to facilitate the decentralisation of the development of literature in Latvia by fostering a suitable cultural environment in regional Latvia. The International Writers’ and Translators, or Ventspils House is a place for creative literary work.

The idea to create such a venue in Latvia belongs to writer Nora Ikstena, who was supported by the Minister of Culture Helēna Demakova, by establishing a successful collaborative partnership with the Ventspils Mayor Aivars Lembergs and the Director of the Latvian Literature Centre Marta Dziļuma.

Funding to ensure the basic running costs is planned yearly. Ventspils House applies for funding to ensure the creative process in the cultural project competitions of the State Cultural Capital Fund.

In 2016, the activities of the International House of Writers and Translators were significantly expanded, by creating a platform "Latvian Literature", which promotes the recognition and distribution of Latvian literature abroad, ensures international cooperation between publishers, literary agents, writers, translators and organizations working in the field of literature and publishing.

The "Latvian Literature" platform was created through a partnership of the three largest literary institutions in Latvia: the International Writers and Translators house, the Latvian Writers Union, and the Latvian Publishers Association.

IA “Starptautiskā Rakstnieku un tulkotāju māja” ir bezpeļņas organizācija, kuras izveides mērķis ir radīt Latvijā daudzfunkcionālu starptautisku rakstnieku un tulkotāju centru, kas veicinātu literatūras attīstību, sekmētu starpkultūru dialogu un Latvijas literāro procesu iekļaušanos starptautiskā apritē, kā arī veicinātu literatūras attīstības procesa decentralizāciju Latvijā, attīstot atbilstošu kultūrvidi arī Latvijas reģionos. Ideja izveidot šādu vietu Latvijā pieder rakstniecei Norai Ikstenai, to atbalstīja kultūras ministre Helēna Demakova, atrodot veiksmīgu sadarbības risinājumu ar Ventspils pilsētas domes priekšsēdētāju Aivaru Lembergu un Latvijas Literatūras centra direktori Martu Dziļumu. Starptautiskā Rakstnieku un tulkotāju jeb Ventspils Māja ir vieta literātu radošam darbam. 2005. gada valsts budžetā tika atvēlēti līdzekļi ēkas rekonstrukcijai un iekārtošanai radošās rezidences vajadzībām. Kultūras ministrija no valsts budžeta 2006. gadam piesaistījusi LVL 85 000 Mājas darbības uzsākšanai un nodrošināšanai. Finansējums Mājas darbības pamatfunkciju nodrošināšanai tiek plānots ik gadus. Valsts kultūrkapitāla fonds kultūras programmu konkursā katru gadu Ventspils Mājai piešķir finansējumu radošā procesa nodrošinājumam. Papildus finansējums Mājas literāro pasākumu nodrošināšanai un stipendijām ir pateicoties Nordic Culture Point Ziemeļvalstu-Baltijas valstu Rezidenču atbalsta programai kopš 2009. gada līdz 2020.gadam. Ventspils Māja rakstniekiem un tulkotājiem piedāvā: vietu radošam darbam vienā no skaistākajām Latvijas pilsētām Baltijas jūras krastā Ventspilī, iespēju dzīvot un strādāt Ventspils Mājā 4 nedēļas, atklāt Ventspili pilsētu, kur satiekas vēsture un rītdiena, un Baltijas jūras piekrasti vienu no skaistākajām un iedvesmojošākajām krasta līnijām Eiropā, satikties ar citiem rakstniekiem un tulkotājiem no Latvijas, Baltijas valstīm, Eiropas un pasaules, iespēju iesaistīties radošos sadarbības projektos festivālos, semināros. Ventspils Māja atvērta arī semināriem, konferencēm, pieredzes apmaiņas darbnīcām un cita veida radošiem pasākumiem.

he residency is located in the premises of the former town hall belonging to the city of Ventspils, built in the 18th century and located in the cultural and historical center of Ventspils. (The architect of the house and interior designer Ēriks Cērpiņš.) It has been given for the use of writers and translators for 40 years.

The building has been rebuilt, adapted for creative work and literary activities, with seven residential premises with internet connection, reading room, kitchen, parking facilities, small garden and recreation areas.

The centre can house nine residents at one time. There are two twin residential rooms. Two of the residential rooms have been adapted for people with special needs.

Residents have access to everything necessary for everyday life - bedspreads, towels, washing machine, iron, hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, room cleaners, etc.

The kitchen of the house is fully equipped, there are two refrigerators, two electric stoves and a dishwasher, Clay dishes for Ventspils House were specially prepared by the artist Arnis Preiss. Especially nice is a wood-burning stove at the dining room.

There are four bikes available for residents.

A projector, screen, TV, music player and office equipment are available for events.

There is a cat Vatsons in the house. Information for those who might have an allergy.

mportant information on Ventspils. Travel guidance from Riga to Ventspils Most often residents travel through the Riga Airport, so there is some guidance to get from the Riga Airport till From the Riga Airport till Ventspils.  After you arrive at the Riga Airport you take a public bus No 22 and go till the city centre. It will take some 45 minutes. You can take also taxi, of course, but please before you take a taxi make sure how much it will cost as lately we got incidents with very high costs. By taxi it takes some 15 – 20 minutes. The bus ticket you buy at the driver in the bus and it costs 2 EUR. You get out at the stop “Autoosta/Central Bus Station” in front of the shopping mole „Stockman”. From the Bus station to Ventspils.  From the bus stop “Autoosta/Central Bus Station”, if you go few steps back and turn left, you come to the Central Bus Station of Riga and there just buy the ticket to Ventspils. The ticket costs around 7,55 EUR. You can buy it also at the driver in the bus. And in internet https://www.1188.lv/en/transport/buses. The travel takes three hours. The House is in five minutes from the Bus Station. You should go to the direction of the Old Town. If you arrive in Riga by train, then it is better to ask someone the way to the bus station, it is behind the shop “Stockman” Ferry from Sweden.  The Ferry Terminal in Ventspils is very close to the House (5 min), go to the direction of the Old Town.  Address of the House - Annas iela 13.

he building at 13 Anna Street, Ventspils, was built in the 18th century as the home of a resident of Ventspils. The earliest mention of Anna Street is on the 1797 map of Ventspils. It was called Anna Street for a long period of time, until it was renamed as Ugunsdzēsēju (Fire fighter) Street in 1948. The original name of the street was reinstated in 1989. Judging from the archaeological layers, which are our only source of information about the age of the buildings in this part of the city, it is improbable that there were any other buildings on this site before this. Written sources suggest that the earliest buildings on today’s Tirgus (Market) Square were built in the 17th century and the original town hall was also located along the southern edge of the Tirgus Square. There are no remaining images of this building, but there is written evidence that it was a one-storey building with a symmetrical facade and a small tower in the centre. It was planned to install a clock in the tower, but whether this was actually done is not known. The current Tirgus Square was probably called the Town Square at this time. The St. Nicholas Evangelical Lutheran Church, built in 1835, is located along the eastern edge of the current Town Square. It had been planned to build the church approximately 100 years earlier, but its completion was delayed by the wars of the 18th century and plague epidemics. Unfinished church walls stood in the location of today’s church, which had to be demolished before new construction could begin. The square on which the church was built was then called Štrauhs Square. It is apparent that this vicinity was intended to be a place of substantial architecture since the early 18th century. The town hall was located in the previously mentioned location near the Tirgus Square until the mid-19th century. By 1850 the condition of the building was so bad that it had to be either rendered or totally overhauled. The City Council then bought the building opposite the recently built church from Peter von Heyking for 3250 silver roubles. There is little information about the Heyking family, it is also not know if this family was responsible for building this structure. There is evidence of a Ventspils Captain Johann Friedrich Kazimir von Heyking (1801-1827), who died in 1827 at the age of 75, who therefore could not have built this building; and about Baroness Jakobin von Heyking, who married a Ventspils goldsmith, Krigers, and died in 1855. In turn, Baron A. Heyking is mentioned in A. Rihters Courland address book of 1912. Therefore this family lived in Ventspils for a long period, although the 18th century citizen’s register-which is incomplete-does not suggest any possible candidates for the builder of this building. At the end of the 19th century an idea surfaced to construct a new town hall in Ventspils. The building was designed by the popular Liepāja city architect Max Paul Bertchy (1871-1902), but the project never came to fruition. It is believed that the Ventspils Town Council, and later the Ventspils City Council were housed in the building at 13 Anna Street right up until the establishment of the independence of the Latvian State, because there is no indication that it was located elsewhere during the German occupation. Later the Ventspils Civic Authority was housed on the eastern edge of the Market Square-in today’s law-court at 14 Katrīnas Street, while in 1927 the city bought the residence built by another Ventspils patrician family-the Gutschmit family-at 2 Kuldīgas Street, for 50 000 lats, where the Civic Authority was located until 1940. The building at 13 Anna Street is connected to the origins of a number of Ventspils cultural institutions. The city library was housed here from its foundation in 1919 until 1937 when it finally moved to its permanent home at 2 Akmeņu Street, in a building that was purchased for this reason by the city from Latvia’s Credit Bank. The most recently established city museum was also housed here since its foundation: the Ventspils Teacher’s Union Museum, established in 1928, which was rehoused in more spacious premises at 2 Kuldīgas Street in the Civic Authority’s building in 1939. It was decided to devote the old library rooms of the town hall for the use of the fire fighting squad. The fire-fighting depot has been located next door to the town hall for a long time. Originally it was a wooden building, built in the mid-19th century, and it contained all of the fire fighting equipment that belonged to the city. In 1872 this depot building together with its contents was handed over to the Ventspils Voluntary Fire Brigade, established in 1871. By 1937 the building had been inhabited for quite some time, and was totally rebuilt.