Aldis Bukšs (b. 1985) is a Latvian writer. Having worked for years in banking and the public sector, Bukšs turned to fiction in 2015 with the publication of his semi-autobiographical novel Debt Collectors (Parādu piedzinēji), which addresses everyday corruption. His next novel Brothers (Bruoli) was published in 2020. It is a fast-paced crime novel full of twists and turns, taking the protagonist Edgars from Latgale to Tartu, Helsinki and London, where he loses a crucial poker game. At the same time, Bukšs introduces readers to often overlooked aspects of Latvia’s recent history, such as the Forest Brothers in north-eastern Latvia and their struggles. In this way, the novel gains both temporal and spatial scope, allowing the author to explore themes of interconnected events, identity, security – and, of course, brotherly love. Notably, the novel was also translated from Latvian into Latgalian, making it the first crime novel in that language in Latvia’s history – a deliberate effort by Bukšs to prevent the disappearance of Latgalian from everyday use.
Aldis Bukšs
