The winner of 2024 is announced. The first book competition Culture

Rūta Vyžintaitė-Lajienė, who sent the poetry manuscript “Luxemburgo jūra”, and Greta Gudelytė, the author of the short story collection “Ziemojimas su mirusaiim”, are announced as the winners of the 2024 First Book competition.

The competition is open to beginning writers who have not yet published their original books in any format.

in 2024 40 poetry and 23 prose manuscripts were submitted to the competition, which was invited by the publishing house of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union at the beginning of the year. As usual, they are evaluated anonymously by poetry and prose commissions approved by the board of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union.

Poetry manuscripts were evaluated this year by poets Ieva Toleikytė (commission chair), Jurgita Jasponytė and Dainius Gintalas, prose writers Danutė Kalinauskaitė (commission chair), Alvydas Šlepikas and Renata Šerelytė.

“I am a journalist, screenwriter from Kaunas,” says Rūta Vyžintaitė-Lajienė, presenting her upcoming book. – Maybe that’s why I discover poetry by learning this and that: I am moved by facts, words, numbers, maps and the stories and situations created by them. As a child of the 90s, I inherited most of such “knowledge” from the experiences of Lithuania and Eastern Europe in the 20th century, which is why I named the book “Luxembourg Sea” – this is a hint to the “Luxembourg Radio” which became a symbol of longing for the period, to the dream of the sometimes impossible, to small the great seas of things.”

According to Greta Gudelytė, her collection of short stories can also be treated as fairy tales for adults: “I would classify my work in the genre of strange literature. Personally, this book reminds me of a witchcraft joke, full of mythological traces, archaic symbolism, shamanic recipes and dream logic.”

When announcing the winners, both competition commissions also singled out other works that won their favor. In the poetry category, these are the manuscripts of Lilija Rakova, Eglė Elena Murauskaitė and Orest Razum, and the prose – Monika Kavaliauskaitė and Mariaus Lukošiaus.

The first books of the laureates will be published by the Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishing House in autumn.

This spring marks the 30th anniversary of the publishing house of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union organizing the First Book competition. This year, the competition commemorating its anniversary was marked in the Book Awards organized by the Lithuanian Publishers Association for the prestige of the debut, attention to beginning authors and careful work with manuscripts.