Alberts Bels is one of Latvia's most prominent contemporary writers. His novels and short stories are studies of human relationships that bring out the characters of time periods, as well as those of individuals. His narratives examine the fate of the Latvian people in a time of global transformation.

Bels was born Janis Cirulis on 6 October 1938 to Arturs Konrads Cirulis and Alma Cirulis in the family farmhouse, "Jaunmezplepji," in the county of Ropazi near Riga. As a child he witnessed the radical changes brought about by World War II and the occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union. In 1953 he completed his elementary schooling in Ropazi and enrolled in the Riga Communal School of Building Trades; two years later he moved to Moscow to attend the School of Circus Arts. The theme of circus life and its risks is a recurrent motif in his short stories. His nickname...