Reviews

It is interesting to observe the increasingly personal nature of Lithuanian poetry and its various expressions and themes – to observe how the poetic tradition has changed since the mid-twentieth century, when Aesopian language replaced Soviet realism, or when irony permeated the public discourse. Later, postmodern games appeared, which are now almost entirely replaced by […]

Valdas Papievis (b. 1962) is a Lithuanian expatriate author of numerous acclaimed novels, laureate of the National Prize for Culture and Arts, and a cherished name in his homeland’s literary scene, whose every new release is met with excitement. For more than 20 years, Papievis has been living in Paris, which appears as a vivid

Mindaugas Nastaravičius is a Lithuanian poet, playwright, and journalist whose poetry books set themselves apart. For instance, his second poetry collection Mo includes various poems that are playful and are written with many different structures, for example, three-line poems and sonnets, and some poems are even shorter than the titles themselves. In the third collection,

Sometimes poets are criticized for always writing the same book, but that certainly does not apply to Giedrė Kazlauskaitė. As you read her work, an unusual impression emerges – a single person’s life seems endless and multilayered. Her fifth book, Marialė (Cantus Mariales), confirms this once again. Each of Kazlauskaitė’s books conceptually reveal a different

The poet, translator, literary critic, public intellectual, and long-time editor of Vilnius Review Marius Burokas is a figure that holds an important place in Lithuania’s cultural landscape. I first learned about him through social media, where he shared photographers’ works, musical discoveries, and drafts of his own translations and poems. Later, Burokas’s social media account

After nearly thirty years since the publication of his first poetry book Rabi, which appeared in 1998 after winning the First Book Contest organized by the Lithuanian Writers’ Union, Mindaugas Kvietkauskas makes a powerful return with his second poetry collection Gruntiniai vandenys (Groundwaters). This book also includes prose-poetry and poetry translations. The texts flow seamlessly

Bukolikos (2024) is the sixth original poetry collection by poet, literary scholar, and translator Erika Drungytė. She made her debut in 1998 with the collection Tiksli žiema (Exact winter), establishing herself as a master of nature and domestic reflection, who’s able to capture moments of everyday life infused with deeper existential insight. Drungytė’s sensitivity to

“What a great idea for a book that is, to write about How we make ourselves sick. And then we become famous.” (“Narcizai” [“Narcissus”]) Lina Buividavičiūtė (b. 1986) is a poet and the author of three successful confessional poetry books. She’s also a participant in literary readings. When she made her debut, she voiced an

The words of Chinese artist Wu Shanzhuan, printed on a tote bag I bought as a gift at Sydney’s White Rabbit Gallery, read: “Everyone has a right to refuse to be an artist.” Everyone also has the right to refuse to be a writer. Darius Žiūra doesn’t hurry in calling himself a writer, either. “I

The DŠM Lineage. In the media, Mykolas Sauka is presented as a sculptor, his name presented alongside prominent figures of Lithuanian art and culture. His grandfather, Donatas Sauka, is a renowned writer, literary scholar, folklore researcher, and a long-time professor at Vilnius University. Mykolas’s father, Šarūnas Sauka, is one of the most prominent representatives of