ECHOES OF DRUSKININKAI POETIC FALL 2007

Chronicle


Kornelijus Platelis


The XVIII International Literary Festival Druskininkai Poetic Fall took place from October 4 – 8, 2007, and was highly successful. More than 110 poets, literary critics, and publishers took part in the event. All our international guests were translated into Lithuanian and five Lithuanian poets translated into English for the annual anthology of the DPF: Alis Balbierius (Lithuania; translated by Medeinė Tribinevičius); Gerard Augustin (France; translated by Vladas Braziūnas); Natalka Bilotserivets (Ukraine; translated by Antanas A. Jonynas); Leons Briedis (Latvia; translated by Erika Drungytė); Xavier Farre (Catalonia; translated by Audrius Stasiulaitis); Felix Grande (Spain; translated by Jurga Katkuvienė and Laurynas Katkus); Vytautas Dekšnys (Lithuania; translated by Jonas Zdanys); Paul Henry (Wales; translated by Alvydas Šlepikas); Mihkel Keavats (Estonia; translated by Danutė Sirijos Giraitė); Paul Muldoon (Ireland; translated by Antanas Gailius and Gabrielė Gailiūtė); Gytis Norvilas (Lithuania; translated by Jonas Zdanys); Irina Nechit-Popa (Moldova; translated by Vladas Braziūnas); Edita Page-Petrauskaitė (Canada; translated by Eugenijus Ališanka); José Luís Peixoto (Portugal; translated by Arvydas Makštutis); Leszek Szaruga (Poland; translated by Rimvydas Strielkūnas); Jan Wagner (Germany; translated by Antanas. A. Jonynas); Viktoras Rudžianskas (Lithuania; translated by Jonas Zdanys). Only Sebastiano Grasso (Italy; translated by Audrius Musteikis) did not make the festival.

 The theme of the XVIII Druskininkai Poetic Fall: El Dorado Round the Corner: the Near and the Remote in Literature was proposed by Laurynas Katkus who moderated the conference. The speakers were: Rimantas Kmita, Giedrė Kazlauskaitė, Eugenijus Ališanka, Jan Wagner, Paul Muldoon and Jose Luis Peixoto.
All of the traditional activities took place in this festival: two poetry evenings, the presentation of books published during the year, chamber and night readings, the presentation of work by guests from abroad and prize winners in Vilnius at St. Catherine’s Church, and an evening in Užupis Café. Friday night’s readings – The Night of the Single Poem – took place in Širdelė accompanied by graffiti of light performed by video artists Aistė Valiūtė and Daumantas Plechavičius. Saturday morning in the Dainava Courtyard the Oriental Bazaar with music and poetry readings took place.
The Yotvingiai Prize was awarded to Almis Grybauskas for his collection of poems “Apžvalgos spiralė“ (Vilnius: Homo liber, 2006). The Young Yotvingian’s Prize went to Benediktas Januševičius for his collection of poems “0+6: Eilėraščiai-daiktai“ (Kaunas: Kitos knygos/ Vario burnos, 2006) and “Raugintu krauju” (Vilnius: Naujoji Romuva, 2007).
   
The following anonymous contests were held: a single poem; a “Travel song”; and the humorous: “My native drink.” Our guests from abroad took part in the competitions with their texts translated into Lithuanian. Results of the competition for the anonymous poem were: 1. Agnė Žagrakalytė; 2. Ričardas Šileika; 3. Paulius Norvila; 4. Klemen Pisk (Slovenia; translated by Laima Masytė); 5. Artūras Valionis. The results of the competition Travel song: 1. Laurynas Katkus; 2. Aušra Kaziliūnaitė; 3. Ričardas Šileika. And, the results of the competition My native drink were: 1. Andrei Khadanovich (Belarus; translated by Vytas Dekšnys); 2. Dovilė Zelčiūtė; 3. Artūras Valionis.



Translated by Jonas Zdanys

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