INTRODUCTION In 2002 I wrote an article for Tiltas (the British-Lithuanian Society journal) on ‘Why being Lithuanian is so important to me.’ So while in 2020 I could flesh out the initial rough sketch outline, and fill it in with further cultural insights from eighteen years of living, I feel that in light of what’s happening in […]
How Covid-19 is asking us to re-evaluate belonging Read More »
Writing that deals with reconstructing distant time periods is especially popular in contemporary Lithuanian literature. Such literature is usually called “historical.” And it is a logical choice of words: historical periods, in particular, provide narratives and characters with unique undertones, and they motivate and add meaning to the whole plot. On the other hand, in
The Fetishization of Historical Periods, or Undinė Radzevičiūtė’s Weimar-Era Berlin Read More »
Beauty is Painful, Beauty is Evil 1929 I. “Would you like to see the catalog?” asked the tattoo artist, Joseph Hildebrandt. “I would,” said Walter. “Hilda, take off your clothes and come over here,” said the tattoo artist. Only a curtain separated the rooms, so there was no need to raise one’s voice. Probably, the
Undinė Radzevičiūtė Read More »
We may regard Enrika Striogaitė as one such cultural participant that you may run into at many art places but never really get to know her. For many years now this poet, author of documentaries, and journalist has managed to appear in public with great stealth. In one of her rare interviews, she once stated
An Antidote to Stereotypes Read More »
Barbora R. where to begin? well, I work, thank God, still working, these days, you know, no, it’s nothing special, and the money, well, you can live – it’s not minimum wage yes, I divorced my husband a long time ago, how many husbands now? I don’t know, I don’t count, but, to be frank,
Writing, in its noblest function, is the attempt to unerase, to unearth, to find the primitive picture again, ours, the one that frightens us. —Hélène Cixous Sometime I would like to write a book (I have written a book) but here I begin by telling a story. There is not enough time or space
Genealogy My name is not my own. It was a mistranslation. It was a word torn from a forbidden holy book, its pages blurred and swollen by another century’s rain. It was a patch sewn on a uniform. It was the name of a city on a map that was never drawn. It was a
From the Archives of the Misbegotten Read More »
Preparing for The Next Life Circumambulating the stupa in Thimphu, Elderly Bhutanese women, Earnestly walk clockwise, Twirling their prayer wheels, chanting, Preparing themselves for life’s eternal journey. They all wear purple— Purple jackets, sweaters, blouses, shawls, Long purple kiras. All my life I’ve loved the color purple— I’ve worn purple coats, purple sweaters, purple dresses. I’ve
translated by Rimas Uzgiris video by Jevgenij Tichonov organized by Saulius Vasiliauskas Copyright: Vilnius Review All rights reserved
Tomas Petrulis – By Mistake Read More »
Writer, poet, and translator Vidas Morkūnas could be presented as an author who, on the one hand, is somewhat distant from the Lithuanian literary center (at least in terms of publicity), and on the other, as someone who significantly expands and enlivens the literary field with his uniqueness and individuality. His ability to construct texts,
Vidas Morkūnas: “‘People on the margins’ and marginal situations always interested me” Read More »
