Fri 2, June 2023, 20:00 h
Location: De Balie,
(Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10 1017 RR Amsterdam)
Europe has a long tradition of utopian and dystopical novelists. 'Utopia' from the sixteenth century by Thomas More or 'Brave New World' from the twentieth century by Aldous Huxley. But what future do contemporary authors envision? Should literature alert us, congratulate us, or inspire us with hope?
The Night of European Literature 2023 takes place as part of the Forum on European Culture, a cultural festival in Amsterdam, with the theme Between Utopia and Dystopia.
At the invitation of the Litouws Cultureel Centrum, this year Lithuanian literature will be presented by Indrė Valantinaitė an acclaimed poet with many literary prizes to her name. European Literature Night is part of this year's festival Forum on European Culture.
Indrė Valantinaitė (b 1984, Kaunas) is a Lithuanian poet. After graduating from a Jesuit Gymnasium, she studied art management at Vilnius University and Vilnius Art Academy. She published poems in many magazines and debuted her first book of poetry in 2006. Her first book Of Fish and Lilies (Žuvim ir lelijom") won the First Book Competition in 2006. Her second book Tales about Love and Other Beasts ("Pasakos apie meilę ir kitus žvėris" (2011) won the Young Yotvingian Prize in 2012. In her third book Shorts (Trumpametražiai 2017) Indre invites the reader to an imaginary cinema where one can watch the characters from the side on the screen of the imagination. She calls her fourth book, Lined by the Sun ("Apsisiautusios saule" 2020), her most personal work, with many intimate confessions. Her poetry has been translated into 20 foreign languages: English, German, French, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, Croatian, Polish, Dutch, Chinese, Irish, Macedonian, Norwegian, Slovenian, Russian, Canadian, Estonian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Swedish, Besides writing poetry, Indrė is a singer, winner of several singing festivals and also a TV journalist, presenter and producer. Since 2012 Indrė is a member of the Lithuanian Writers' Union.
During the European Literature Night 2023, Indrė Valantinaitė will explore the power of utopian literature and together with Romen poet Iuliana Alexa and read the poems. The authors will be featured in the second part of the event - "Part II | Against apocalypse: Finding hope in utopian poetry”.
The conversation will be moderated by Isabel Sheridan, programmer of the De Balie debate centre.
All participating authors: Berit Glanz (Germany), Dalilla Hermans (Belgium), Indrė Valantinaitė (Lithuania), Carmelo Rodríguez & Willy Lomana (Spain), Iuliana Alexa (Romania), Meelis Friedenthal (Estonia), Franco Tirletti (Italy), Klára Vlasáková (Chech Republic), Haska Shyyan (Ukrain), Aafke Romeijn (The Netherlands).
Thanks to Eunic Netherlands, Goethe-Institut, De Brakke Grond, Litouws Cultureel Centrum, Lithuanian Embassy, Instituto Cervantes, Institutul Cultural Român, Estonian Embassy, Istituto Italiano, Check Centre, Embassy of Ukrain and Dutch Culture.
Photo: M.Penkutė.