In autumn, a new literary festival "Open books" will be held in the National Art Gallery in Vilnius. Its organizers aim to become a landmark for better reading and create a space for the presentation of authors and their latest books published in recent years.
"We are creating a literature festival - an event whose idea arose from the need to talk more about literature in Lithuania, to show exceptional attention to the latest books and their authors. The main part of the festival will be called "Authors' Gallery", so it is conceptual that we chose an environment dedicated to art for the event itself - the National Art Gallery. As you know, galleries are designed to bring art closer to people, and we, in turn, want to bring readers closer to writers: the aforementioned "Authors' Gallery" will become a space where readers can meet creators, discuss their latest books and ideas," said the festival's director organizer Ieva Davydenko, head of VŠĮ "Open books".
September 21 At the upcoming Open Books festival, it is planned to present about 50 books published in recent years, most of which will be fiction. Authors will be selected by both the publishing houses with which the festival will cooperate, as well as those creating the festival together: Marius Ivaškevičius, Aidas Puklevičius, Ignas Staškevičius, Mykolas Katkus, Audrius Siaurusevičius, Donatas Puslys and others.
"Hundreds of new books are published in Lithuanian every year, so it is understandable that it is difficult for readers to delve into the offer, let alone read all of them. The goal of the festival is to become a landmark that will recommend and help you choose. Our team will annually review the latest book supply and provide readers with recommendations that will be made taking into account the expectations of the general readership," said I. Davydenko.
Only one day event event will also include more activities related to literature: poetry readings, discussions on current literary topics, an exhibition and the like. It is also planned to introduce a format never seen in Lithuania - a gourmet dinner dedicated to literature.
"This year we foresee five discussion topics. First of all, we will talk about the fact that literature has more than one life and books are often reborn in cinema, theater or other forms. We will also talk about what is taboo and hushed up in society, and the books speak boldly and thus help to inform the society, and maybe solve certain social problems. We will also discuss how books help us understand history and how they help us, Lithuanians, deal with certain painful historical episodes or events; how the story approaches the reader through the biographies of different personalities. Finally, we will measure the sense of humor of Lithuanians, we will raise the question of whether we know how to joke and be self-ironic", said D. Puslys.
The festival will take place in Vilnius, at the National Art Gallery on September 21.
