Beyond Boundaries: The Unbridled Power of International Storytelling

A fresh gust of wind in Danish literature

Tine Høeg, one of the most interesting Danish writers of our time, the author of three novels, will visit the “Open books” festival. This year, the writer’s novel “Tour de chambre” (published by “Rara” publishing house, translated by Ieva Toleikytė) was published both in Lithuanian and by a commission of experts 15min included this book in the annual book selection fifteen best translated fiction books.

The debut novel of this writer was published in 2017 and immediately earned her popularity and an award for the best domestic fiction debut. Tour de chambre also brought her international recognition, and her third book, Alkis, was published two years ago.

In Tine Høeg’s book Tour de chambre, she expertly combines poetic narration, episodes of frenetic life in the dormitory with serious insights about lust, creativity, searching for a life path, interweaving traditional narrative forms with the language of social networks. “Desire is an eternal joker. It is like an incessant lava flow flowing below everything, which can suddenly explode all established boundaries, destroy moral norms. It’s beautiful and dangerous as hell. It attracts me more than anything else,” the writer says about one of the main themes of her work.

“We really wanted to invite this writer, because her work is a breath of fresh air in literature, one of the greatest new discoveries. Tine Høeg’s books are for those who take handfuls of youth and return to it in their thoughts. It envelops the reader in an atmosphere of nostalgia, even tenderness, naivety. It’s a return to the times when everything seems ahead, the time of first times, falling in love, looking at the world with widened eyes, searching for one’s vocation,” Audrius Ožalas, creator of the “Open books” program, says about this novel.

The conversation in Vilnius with the writer from Denmark will be moderated by author of books, journalist Akvilė Kavaliauskaitė, whose book topics also answer important questions for Danish writers.

Provocations of the Polish writer

“You are not holding a book in your hands, but a real torpedo. Make yourself comfortable in the chair. Her energy, humor and rebelliousness will wake up your mind and change your thinking”, – this is how Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk responded about the book “Hexes” by Polish writer Agnieszka Szpila, which was recently published in Lithuanian (published by Sofoklis publishing house, translated by Irena Aleksaitė). .

You are not holding a book, but a real torpedo.

This book crosses many boundaries, it is uncomfortable, provocative, sometimes even shocking, filled with dark humor, and in this way the author touches on important, relevant social issues. There is no doubt that the conversation in Vilnius will be intriguing, provoking a lot of thought, because two bright figures of Lithuanian culture – Akvilina Cicėnaitė and Laima Kreivytė – will be speaking with the Polish writer on stage.

Agnieszka Szpila is an outstanding personality in Polish literature. Having published her debut book in 2005, in her work she touches on societal, ecological, feminist, and sexuality topics, writing sharply and refreshingly. Her work constantly provokes debates in Polish society.

The writer herself says that she values ​​her books as social-political-cultural projects. Critics and readers met her books enthusiastically – already her first novel “Bardo” became a bestseller, and “Hexes” was included in the long list of the prestigious Polish literary prize “Nike”.

Before coming to Lithuania, the writer said that she was very happy to have the opportunity to visit our country, which she loves very much because of our architecture and nature. “I want to talk about new social, sexuality and identity models,” said the writer.

“I am very happy that this year we managed to invite two authors to the festival, each of whom are very interesting, innovative writers of our time in their own style and genre. While reading A. Szpila’s latest book “Hexes”, I was amazed at the eccentricity, courage, creativity and ability of this writer to write so sarcastically, and at the same time poetically, passionately, metaphorically. A. Szpila provokes with his books to talk about the still great power of patriarchy in our society, discrimination of minorities, climate change, nature conservation, separation between social strata. That’s why I’m really looking forward to meeting this author in Vilnius and hearing live – where she gets her inspiration for such radical ideas and who really hides behind them”, said Jurga Mandrijauskaitė – Ruškienė, head of the “Open books” festival.

Photo of the organizers/Festival “Open books”

A conversation about Russian colonialism

The “Open books” festival will also talk about what is happening in Ukraine, how Russian colonialism works.

The organizers invited the well-known Ukrainian journalist, writer, activist Maksym Eristavi to the discussion “Voices from Ukraine: Russian colonialism and how it tries to falsify history”. The author of the book “Russian Colonialism 101”, which appeared in Ukrainian and English, and will soon be published in Lithuanian, is trying to draw the world’s attention to the brutal Russian colonialism. He spoke about this in the US Congress, the European Parliament, at meetings of the ministries of foreign affairs of several countries, during his twenty-year journalistic career he published reports not only in the Ukrainian media, but also in the BBC, CNN, “Foreign Policy”, “Foreign Affairs” and other influential media. in the means.

Days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, he tweeted a list of all Russian colonial invasions in the past century, and in a book on Russian colonialism, he describes 48 of Russia’s most recent colonialist invasions to draw attention to the repeated behavior of an aggressive empire. “It’s a cycle that the rest of the world can no longer turn a blind eye to.” A cycle that must stop. A cycle that must end with justice,” says the Ukrainian journalist.

Another expert in this field – political scientist, head of “The Reckoning Project” office in Ukraine Maksimas Milta – will participate in the conversation with him, and the discussion will be moderated by journalist Rita Miliūtė.

The literature festival “Open books” will be held on October 25-26 in Vilnius, at the National Art Gallery (NDG). On October 25, the editing conference “REDA” will be held, and on October 26, meetings with writers and literary discussions will take place. Full festival program: www.openbooks.lt

The festival is partially supported by the Lithuanian Culture Council and the association LATGA. Information partner – 15 min.

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