On 23–25 September 2026, the XVIII International Symposium “The Theme of War and Peace in Contemporary World Literature and Culture” was held in Tbilisi, Georgia. The symposium was a major international academic event, bringing together 160 scholars from 17 countries. The conference focused on representations of war and peace in contemporary world literature and culture, as well as on interpretations of historical experience, memory, and identity in literary and cultural processes.

Daugavpils University was represented at the conference by researchers from the Department of Languages and Literature, who presented their studies on the representation of war, the Holocaust, refugee experiences, and historical memory in literature.

Assistant Professor Inna Dvorecka presented a paper entitled “Experience of Refugeehood and Its Overcoming in Poetic and Ego-Writing of Igor Chinnov.”

Assistant Professor Ilze Oļehnoviča presented a paper entitled “War in the Prose of Friedrich Gorenstein.”

Professor Elīna Vasiļjeva presented a paper entitled “The Holocaust and World War II in Contemporary Latvian Literature: Māris Bērziņš’ Novel ‘Taste of Lead’.”

The presentations by the Daugavpils University researchers attracted considerable interest among the conference participants and prompted discussions on the representation of experiences of war and violence in literature, narratives of the Holocaust and historical memory, as well as comparative approaches to different European literary traditions.

Participation in this major international academic event provided the Daugavpils University researchers with an opportunity to present their studies in an international academic environment, establish new professional contacts, and further develop international research cooperation in the fields of literary studies, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary research.