International Programmes

The Lithuanian Writers Union works together and conducts joint projects with foreign cultural centers and the cultural representatives of embassies in Lithuania: it recommends works by Lithuanian authors to publishers of foreign book and periodicals, organizes Lithuanian book launches and meetings with Lithuanian authors in foreign countries, delegates Lithuanian writers to foreign conferences, festivals, and other literary events, disseminates information about Lithuanian literature, Lithuanian writers, the activities of the LWU, Lithuanian publishers, and aids in establishing connections, invites foreign guests to participate in the international Poetry Spring festival, provides Lithuanian authors with information on foreign writing and translating residencies and scholarships and acts as an intermediary in acquiring them, and disseminates information about the various literary contests that take place during the year.

RESIDENCIES FOR WRITERS AND TRANSLATORS IN NIDA AND PALANGA

The residencies for Writers and Translators project, which is executed by the Fund of Lithuanian Writers’ Union, is comprised of two residency programs: the Diemedis Translators’ Residency, established by the Fund in 2015, and an exchange program for writers taken over by the LWU fund in 2018, which was previously coordinated by the Lithuanian Institute for Culture and Hessischer Literaturrat. Translators of the Lithuanian literature into foreign languages are the annual participants of the Diemedis Translators’ Residencies program. In 2019 the resident translators were Kamil Pecela, who translates into Polish, and Tiiu Sandrak, who translates into Estonian. Katharina Korbach, a young German writer, was the resident at the Writers’ Residency program in Nida, while Lithuanian poet Nijolė Daujotytė was visiting the Hessischer Literaturrat residency in Wiesbaden.

NETWORK OF BALTIC LITERARY ORGANIZATIONS

The Network of Baltic Literary Organizations is a coopertaive project that unites the literary organizations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and which is meant to strenghten the level of cooperation between the three Baltic states in the field of literature for the period of 2019-2021. This is done using various means: through disseminating information on Baltic states’ literature across the three countries, promoting translations, workshops for young and novice translators, strenghtening the mobility of translators, writers and employees of literary organizations across the Baltic region, the exchange of practice in organizing literary festivals, presenting literature in foreign countries, and solving management issues, as well as consulting on matters of cultural policy. The project is partly financed by the Nordic Culture Point and Lithuanian Council for Culture.

LITERARY TRANSLATION WORKSHOPS IN BALTIC STUDIES CENTERS

Since 2016, the Lithuanian Writers’ Union has been working together with the Baltic Studies Centers of foreign universities in organizing literary translation workshops for students of Lithuanian language studying in those departments. Proffesional authors of fiction or poetry, chosen by students and professors visit the centers of Baltic Studies located in various European universities. Students are given the opportunity to participate in lectures on the particularities and translation specifics of literary fiction and in literary translation workshops, as a mean to spark the interest of young translators in working with fiction while they are still undergraduate students. Such workshops were already organized at universities in Warsaw (Poland), Masaryk (Czech Republic) and Riga (Latvia), while in 2019, in cooperation with the Center of Lithuanian Studies of Riga University, a summer school and poetry translations workshop were organized for the student of Lithuanian language.

PARTICIPATION IN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE BALTIC WRITERS’ COUNCIL

Baltic Writers’ Council (BWC) unites 21 literary organization across 12 states and is comprised of 17 000 members. Lithuanian Writers’ Union has been a member of BWC since 1997. Marius Burokas, representative of the LWU, was elected Board member of the BWC in the year 2019.