Bruno Slept Here by Baņuta Rubess

"Every day at noon he sent astral messages to Little Mirdza. Now and then he felt a vibration on the top of his head, or a current between his eyebrows, and he’d imagine that was her reply. He’d mouth the mantra silently on their endless marches but lost count when the Fritzes shouted at them, which was always."Bruno Slept Here begins in Nazi-occupied Rīga, when fifteen-year-old Bruno joins a secret yoga club whose teachings go beyond headstands to include astral projection. Not yet finished high school, young Bruno is conscripted, pitched into the madness of war with only telepathy and a Vedic mantra as protection.The book is based on the life of the author’s father and draws on years of research. Baņuta Rubess braids personal history into her fiction, pushing the boundaries of what a novel can hold.Bruno Slept Here was published in Latvian translation in 2024 to general acclaim.Hosts filmmaker Alan Zweig and award-winning author Martha Baillie will discuss the book with the author. As an homage to Bruno’s life as a teenage violinist, young virtuoso Anna Štube will play solo. There may also be a headstand competition.“Bruno Slept Here is an odyssey that balances questions of private suffering against the question of historical culpability. Rubess has written a wonderful, bold, unexpected, often intentionally frustrating quest story. Her courage in taking on 'funny business' reminds me of the great subversive traditions of Eastern European literature, affirming that things can be funny and sad at the same time.”– Kyo Maclear, Birds Art Life and UnearthingFor more information about the auther, go to www.banuta.com. Cover art ©2026 Balvis Rubess www.balvis.com
Banuta Rubess - Website / Substack / Instagram
Anna Štube - Website
Martha Baillie - Website
Balvis Rubess - Website