The "Open books" literature festival, which will take place for the first time in the National Art Gallery, will probably gather over 80 participants under one roof for the first time in Lithuania, including about 50 authors who published their books in Lithuanian in 2018-2019. New format event today presented its program, which includes the Authors' Gallery, discussions, readings, an exhibition and the closing event of the festival "Liter/Afteris". The organizers emphasize that one of the tasks of the festival is to break the introversion of Lithuanians.
"In the main part of the festival - the "Author's Gallery" - Lithuanian authors will be concentrated this year, who will present their works, some of which have already been recognized and awarded, and some will be published this year. This year we will even have several such premiers, including Algirdas Kaušpėdas, Miglė Anušauskaitė and Elena Gasiulytė, Simonas Bernotas, Eva Tombak.
In addition, the authors of the book "Stranger on the Bridge" will come to the festival, the annotation for which, by the way, was written by Prince William of the United Kingdom. It was a fateful coincidence that it deals with the topic of suicides, which has become more active recently, and the purpose of the festival is to remind everyone that books are not only for escaping from life, but also to help solve the pains of our society", said the organizer of the festival, Ieva Davydenko. , head of VŠĮ "Open books".
In the large exhibition hall of the National Art Gallery covering more than 1000 square meters, the authors will be located at personalized stands where they will interact with potential readers without moderation, and fans will have the opportunity to purchase their books and get the authors' autographs during the festival. According to the organizers, such a rare format in Lithuania will help break the introversion typical of Lithuanians: it is expected that the specially prepared space will become comfortable for less formal, intellectual conversations.
"It remains intriguing how it will work, but it would be good if this festival finally broke the ice." Especially since the readers themselves will be able to choose from a very wide range of authors and works, which are not limited to one current or genre. Both authors who have received national prizes and debuting writers will be here. This will help to understand who the writing people are: do we consider them only those who belong to the Writers' Union, or also those who wrote one, but very popular book? - rhetorically asked literary critic Virginija Kulvinskaitė-Cibarauskė, who is preparing a special festival guide for readers and presenting her latest book in the Authors' Gallery.
"In the festival program, we have included readings of works by Gintaras Grajauskas, Giedrė Kazlauskaitė, Laima Kreivytė, Kornelijas Platelis, Jolanta Ona Vitkutė and Algirdas Kaušpėdas. In addition, in the evening part of the festival - "Liter/After" - anyone who wishes will be able to read, and these night readings will be moderated by the well-known poet Alvydas Šlepikas", said I. Davydenko.
Another important part of the program is four discussions. The festival will open with the theme "Are Lithuanians really unable to laugh?", which will be moderated by Andrias Zimaitis, and invite you to hear what Inga Vidugerytė-Pakelienė, Ainis Storpirštis and Herkus Kunčius think about it. The second topic - "100 Literary Lives: Literature in Cinema and Theater" will invite directors Algimantas Puipas and Jonas Vaitkäs and philosopher Nerijas Millerias to discuss it. The third discussion, moderated by Audrius Ožalas, will raise the question of who killed the literary critic, and the literary critic dr. Jūratė Čerškutė and publicist Aidas Puklevičius. Finally, the festival will invite people to talk about the problems of society, which are more and more boldly addressed by literature, but which are still often kept silent. Actor, writer Marius Repšys and Laima Kreivytė will share their insights, moderated by Birutė Rutkauskienė.
Throughout the day of the festival, it will be possible to browse the exhibition of art books "NoRoutine Books", and after the official part of the festival, everyone is invited to join the closing party at the "Nauji vejai" bar.
"Our cultural life, I would say, is quite bogged down, so this kind of event encourages the necessary cultural cooking. It is obvious that we feel the hunger for such events, so this festival will definitely find its place under the sun, especially since it has all the necessary elements to spend a quality literary day", said writer Marius Ivaškevičius, who contributes to the creation of the festival.
The festival will be held at the National Art Gallery on September 21. Tickets are distributed by "Bilietai.lt". More information at www.openbooks.lt
