These unprecedented times continue. Some of us can occasionally go to work in the archives, museum or office, but most of us are still forced to find new solutions for how to get everything done in our home offices or online. New times call for new coping strategies in both our personal and work lives.

Spring edition of the Baltic Heritage Network quarterly newsletter is already available. In these pages you will find information about our past and future events, new publications, and what is happening across the globe within the diaspora research and archive communities. 

The Museum of Estonians Abroad (VEMU) in Toronto together with the Estonian Writer’s Union and Estonian Literature Center announce a competition to find new translators of fiction from Estonian into English.

As of the beginning of this year, Estonian Public Broadcasting’s most popular radio station Vikerraadio is hosting a weekly show “Hajala ringvaade” dedicated to the activities of Estonians abroad. The host is BaltHerNet long time board member and historian Maarja Merivoo-Parro and she welcomes hints for topics. She can be reached at hajala@err.ee

As the COVID-19 situation in Toronto has not brought us back any of our old freedoms, VEMU has continued to organize events online. During the first two months of the year, we have had many exciting events.

The archive of Justė Kostikovaitė, the cultural attaché of the Republic of Lithuania in the United Kingdom, covering the period from 2016 to 2020, has arrived at the National Library of Lithuania. Kostikovaitė noted that during the four years of her term as a cultural attaché, the need for contemporary cultural content had arisen. The events focused on virtual content distribution have become very important, particularly during the ongoing pandemic.

I am a researcher and therefore well familiar with the joys and tribulations of archival research. When at the end of the day I feel I have gained a tiny piece of something new, I feel elated, however small the gain. By contrast, if I have not gained anything after perusing a stack of files for days, I am irritable, unhappy, deep in the doldrums. Perhaps you have experienced something like that yourself?

PBLA – The World Federation of Free Latvians has announced an initiative, to create a digital listing of archival sources in the diaspora (www.pbla.lv „Jaunumi“). The survey’s goal is to work in collaboration with the Latvian Ministry of Culture and the central cultural and archival centres outside Latvia, with a view to documenting the existence, condition and accessibility of historical materials.