Books silenced in Belarus find a voice in Latvia

The Russian-language portal of Latvia's public broadcaster LSM has published a first-person opinion piece, headlined as being about books that were ordered to fall silent in Belarus but have now found a voice in Latvia. The excerpt available is only the opening, so it gives no details about specific books, their authors or any events in Latvia.

The author says she has loved reading since childhood. For her, books were never just a way to pass the time or escape everyday worries. She describes them as whole worlds that let her meet other people, live through other people's fates, see unfamiliar countries and learn to ask questions.

She says she came to know the world through books, fiction included, and gradually learned to understand herself. The wider context, including why the books were silenced in Belarus, is not set out in the excerpt.