Wschodni Express | Book launch: Aušra Kaziliūnaitė “osobista pustka”, translated by Paulina Ciucka
7.07 |17.00 -18.00 | Bałagan pub – patio, Grodzka 5a
translated from Lithuanian by Paulina Ciucka. Guests: Aušra Kaziliūnaitė, Paulina Ciucka. Moderator: Wojciech Szot | PL / LTU
“osobista pustka” is the first Polish translation of a Lithuanian poet of the younger generation.
This collection presents poems from the last three volumes by Lithuanian poet Aušra Kaziliūnaitė, with the aim of providing Polish readers with a coherent compilation of her work that is connected by themes, motifs, and poetic devices. Unlike her earlier poems, the author moves away from experimenting with form and instead focuses on constructing her imaginative world. This world includes a realm born from a blue egg, seemingly existing bodies of water, and the „truer” versions of ourselves on the other side of the mirror. Kaziliūnaitė’s fantastic collage incorporates fragments of other people’s work, shards of philosophical theories, and fragments of the real world. Paulina Ciucka (translator).
Aušra Kaziliūnaitė (born in 1987 in Vilnius) is a poet, philosopher, and writer. She studied history and religious studies. In 2020, she defended her doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Philosophy at Vilnius University. Since 2019, she has been serving as the vice president of the Writers’ Union of Lithuania. She has published five poetry collections: „Pirmoji lietuviška knyga” (The First Lithuanian Book, 2007), „20% koncentracijos stovykla” (A Half-Whistle Concentration Camp, 2009), „Mėnulis yra tabletė” (The Moon Is a Tablet, 2014), „esu aptrupėjusios sienos” (I Am Shattered Walls, 2016), and „Jūros nėra” (There Is No Sea, 2021). Her works have been awarded the prestigious Jurgis Ivanovasukaitė Prize, the Ministry of Culture of Lithuania’s Prize for Young Creators, and the Elena Mezginaitė Prize.