Two books about Latvia have won this year’s book prize from the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, which concluded its 21st biennial conference May 31 at Indiana University in Bloomington.

The winnng titles are Nature and National Identity After Communism: Globalizing the Ethnoscape by Katrina Z. S. Schwartz and From Sites of Occupation to Symbols of Multiculturalism: Re-Conceptualizing Minority Education in Post-Soviet Latvia by Iveta Silova.

Schwartz is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Florida. Her book was published in 2006 by the University of Pittsburgh Press. The work “examines the intersection of environmental politics, globalization, and national identity in a small East European country: modern-day Latvia,” according to the publisher.

Schwartz previously was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute and taught at Penn State University.

Silova’s book was published in 2006 by Information Age Publishing Inc. The book “investigates a puzzle: how is it that one and the same system, the system of separate schooling for Latvian and Russian speakers, is seen as a site of occupation during one period (1987-1990) and as a symbol of multiculturalism in the next (1991-1999),” according to the publisher.

At the time she wrote the book, Silova was a visiting professor at Baku State University in Azerbaidjan. She now is an assistant professor of international and comparative education at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

Honorable mention was awarded to Jeff Johnson for his The New Theatre of the Baltics: From Soviet to Western Influence in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, published in 2007 by McFarland & Company. Johnson teaches at Brevard Community College in Florida.

The American Latvian Association is now accepting nominations for its annual awards of recognition for outstanding achievements in social and cultural work, the association announced May 28. The awards may go to organizations or individuals.

Nominations are due by Aug. 24 and will be reviewed by the association’s board during its September meeting. Awards traditionally are announced during local November 18 celebrations, according to Sarma Muižniece Liepiņa, head of the ALA’s office of cultural affairs.

Nominations should include detailed information about the candidate’s work and achievements, length of service and their meaning to the Latvian community. Awards are given for community leadership; for development of new and successful activities; for creativity in and maintenance of Latvian culture; for promotion of the survival of the Latvian people, and for popularizing Latvian culture and history to non-Latvians.

Nominations should be mailed to Sarma Muižniece Liepiņa, Director of the ALA Office of Cultural Affairs, 27 Highland Road, Boxford, MA 01921. Nominations also may be e-mailed to her at sarmaliepins@comcast.net. For further information, contact Muižniece Liepiņa at +1 (978) 352-6328, call the ALA office in Maryland at +1 (301) 340-1914, or visit the ALA’s Web site at www.alausa.org.

The ALA award of recognition may be earned just once in a person’s lifetime. A total of 33 awards were given in 2007. A list of previous winners is available on the ALA Web site, although Muižniece Liepiņa noted that some names may be missing. She asked that if someone knows a name is missing from the list that the ALA be contacted.

A commemorative 1-lat coin honoring Latvia’s song festival tradition, which began in 1873, has been released by the Bank of Latvia.

The silver coin became available May 23, the bank announced in a press release. The silver proof coin has a circulation of 10,000 and, while legal tender, will be marketed to collectors. A copper-nickel version, also limited to a circulation of 10,000, will be released in the second half of June before the July 5-12 All Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Rīga.

The coin was designed by Arvīds Priedīte and the plaster model made by Ligita Franckeviča. The averse features a woman in folk costume carrying Midsummer wildflowers. Behind her is a fragment of the folk song “Pūt, vējiņi.” The reverse depicts a man in folk costume carrying a crown of oak leaves. Behind him is a fragment of the choral song “Gaismas pils.” The edge of the coin has the text “Dziesmai šodien liela diena” (Today is a grand day for song).

The coin was minted by the Finnish company Rahapaja Oy.

A total of 5,000 copies of the silver proof coin are reserved for sale within Latvia. The price of the coin at the Bank of Latvia is LVL 22.50.

The song festival coin is the 60th commemorative piece released by the bank since 1995.