The 4th Kaunas Literature Week will connect continents and words

From May 8 to 12, Kaunas will become a mecca of literature – the international festival of books and writers “Kaunas Literary Week” will be held here for the fourth time.

Variety of forms and content

The festival initiated by Vytautas the Great University (VDU) and “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022” took place for the first time in May 2021. Since then, the event turns Kaunas into an international center for masters of the word every year for a few days: it invites live meetings with foreign and Lithuanian writers, initiates discussions on current topics, informal communication meetings.

This year, the event will bring together authors not only from Lithuania and Europe, but also from South America, and new formats will appear alongside traditional events. This year, the festival, which is recognizable and welcomed by audiences of all ages, will be buzzing not only in the city center, but also in other areas of the city. In addition to traditional meet-and-greets with writers, there will also be open mic readings, where any registered writer will be given the stage.

There will also be “Freedom of Books”, which revives the tradition of book gatherings and street book sales in Kaunas, the evening of Kaunas and writers from Kaunas called “Išeiviai ir namiškiai”, and the Sunday “Half-hours without wifi” at the cultural bar “Godo”.

“I am glad that, despite the difficulties of preparing for the festival, the Kaunas Literature Week will take place this year!” By focusing on our partners, to whom we are extremely grateful, we managed to prepare an equally rich program with well-known writers not only from Lithuania and Europe, but also from Latin America, and next to the traditional events, this year we will also present new ones that will expand not only the content, but, we hope, audience”, shares the artistic director of the festival, Laurynas Katkus.

By the way, all events of the festival are free, meetings with authors will be translated into Lithuanian, and the forum will be held in English.

The main partner of the festival supported by the Kaunas City Municipality is the Goethe Institute, the “Perspectives” program, the partners are the Polish Institute in Vilnius, the Kaunas Artists’ House, the Kaunas Chamber Theater, and the volunteer association “Kultūristai”.

Rūta Eidukevičienė / Personal archive photo.

Reflections on current topics

According to L. Katkaus, it would be difficult to ignore the elephant in the room – we live in times of war, when writers become soldiers, and we, the readers, look for answers in books. It is no coincidence that books about the shadows of war, the scars it leaves on the soul, alienation and compassion will be mentioned more often at this year’s festival.

“Since our first festival, we have been living in an increasingly volatile, unpredictable world that is difficult to contemplate and describe. But literature does. It’s no wonder that people are waiting for new literary meetings”, says the director of the festival, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities of VMU, Dr. Rūta Eidukevičienė.

According to her, writers coming to the Kaunas Literature Week bring not only their latest books, but also a special view of the world.

“This year, together with the Goethe Institute, we will even invite to two events, during which the writers participating in the festival from Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Iceland and Lithuania will take the stage together to talk about the crises that have befallen us and at the same time – about solidarity, neighborhood and the power of the literary word” , – says the director of the festival, dr. R. Eidukevičienė.

The program will include events dedicated to both prose and poetry, while the discussion forum “Crisis and solidarity in today’s Europe: what can literature do?” and readings by authors will provide an opportunity to delve into different literary traditions and works that help to grasp and feel even more deeply the reality, not run away from her.

Photo by J. Petronis.

Broad horizons

This year, the festival will provide a unique opportunity to meet Mariana Enríquez (Argentina), who is coming to Lithuania for the first time – an author who discusses the themes of addictions, alienation, and youthful rebellion. The book “Why smoking in bed is dangerous” by one of the most important representatives of the “new Argentine narrative” was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2021, and the novel “Part of Our Night” (2019) was awarded the Herralde Prize. Two collections of her short stories have been published in Lithuanian: “What we lost in the fire” (translated from Spanish by Laura Liubinavičiūtė) and “Why is it dangerous to smoke in bed” (translated from Spanish by Augustė Čebelytė-Matulevičienė).

As every year, the Kaunas Literature Week will pay special attention to the literature of Central and Eastern Europe.

The 4th Kaunas Literature Week will be opened and closed by Lithuanian authors and their books. At the opening, visitors can meet Undine Radzevičiūtė, a master of economical narration and ironic dialogue – she will present her latest novel “Dangerous Words”. The backdrop of the festival will be a conversation with philosopher and politician Mantas Adomėnas and readings of his intellectual spy novel “Coin & Labyrinth”.

As every year, the Kaunas Literature Week will pay special attention to the literature of Central and Eastern Europe. It will be represented this year by writers from Germany, Poland and Ukraine. In the discoveries, you will meet authors from Germany, Sabrina Janesch and Hans Thill. It will be a unique opportunity for the first in Lithuania to hear the translations of their works: S. Janesch will read excerpts from her latest novel “Sibiras”, which is based on the history of her family, and H. Thillis, together with the poet and essayist Donatas Petrošius and the poet, military medic and scout Jaryna Čornohuz, will introduce with the anthology of six Lithuanian poets “Poetry of neighbors: poets make poets” presented at the Leipzig book fair this year.

Julia Fiedorczuk from Poland is already familiar to the domestic audience – her novel – the family saga “Under the Sun” (translated from Polish by Kazys Uscila) – has been translated into Lithuanian. The Wisława Szymborska prize-winning writer, translator and researcher has published a total of seven prose books.

The Icelandic writer, poet and playwright Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir is coming from Northern Europe this year, who, by the way, also writes for the Icelandic music group Milkywhale. The author’s novels have been repeatedly nominated and awarded the literary prize of the Northern Council of Ministers, and she has also won the Canadian Prix des libraires du Quebec award. Her novel “Scars” (translated from Icelandic by Rasa Ruseckienė) has been translated into Lithuanian, which examines the painful marks left by everyday life and war.

The events of the festival, which are already becoming a tradition, remain especially important: “Knygų laisvė”, which revives the tradition of book gatherings and street book sales in Kaunas, “Open mikrafas” dedicated to the work of young authors, the evening of writers from Kaunas and from Kaunas “Išeiviai ir namiškiai” and the Sunday tradition – “Puspiesiai” without wifi” in the culture bar “Godo”.

Photo by J. Petronis.