The Lithuanian Project “Conversations about Emigration” Will Be Presented at IFLA

logo-2016_mediumAn educational project “Conversations about Emigration” carried out by the National Library of Lithuania last year will be presented at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) conference held in Columbus, Ohio, on August 13-19, 2016.

A display, introducing the Project and its activities, will present the participants of the conference a new method, aimed at fostering citizenship and national identity, encouraging young people to know better the origins, cause, course and consequences of the (e)migration phenomenon.
Pokalbiai_logotipasIFLA, every year organized in a different part of the world, attracts over 3,500 participants from more than 120 countries. This huge international event provides the delegates with an opportunity to get acquainted with the library and information science situation of the hosting country and to share positive experience. This year IFLA conference is dedicated to connections, collaboration and community.

 

A Third Seminar for Young Diaspora Researchers

Diaspora seminarThe Lithuanian Studies Research Department (former Lituanica Department) of the National Library of Lithuania hosted the third interdisciplinary seminar for young diaspora researchers on April 28, 2016. This year, the event took place at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences. Continue reading “A Third Seminar for Young Diaspora Researchers”

An Event in Warsaw Dedicated to Lithuanian and Polish Relations

 Dr Giedrė Milerytė-Japertienė at the Lithuanian Embassy in Warsaw
Dr Giedrė Milerytė-Japertienė at the Lithuanian Embassy in Warsaw

On March 2, 2016, Dr Giedrė Milerytė-Japertienė, a senior researcher at the Lithuanian Studies Research Department of the National Library of Lithuania, participated in a discussion organised by the Lithuanian Embassy in Warsaw together with Vytautas Magnus University and Warsaw University Eastern Europe Studies Centre. The discussion, based on two newly published books, Lithuanian and Polish Relations in Exile, 1945-1990 (ed. Giedrė Milerytė-Japertienė) and The Dynamics of Relations Between Lithuania and Poland: From Historical Experience to Contemporary Situations (ed. Mindaugas Norkevičius, Gintarė Lukoševičiūtė, and Ieva Masiliūnaitė), was attended by the Warsaw academic community. The discussion also covered Jurgis Giedraitis’ (Jerzy Giedroyc) intellectual legacy and influence on the present day Lithuanian and Polish relations. The discussion was led by Jan Malicki, the director of Warsaw University Eastern Europe Studies Centre.

Among the Finalists – Three Lithuanian Émigré Authors

For many, the final list of the contestants (in the category Adult Literature) to win the best Lithuanian book of 2015 came as no surprise. Three out of five finalists were Lithuanian authors living abroad.


Odile-2299The novel Odilė, arba Oro uostų vienatvė (Odile or the Loneliness of Airports) is written by Valdas Papievis, who has been living between Paris and Vilnius for more than a decade. His newest book tells a story about the loneliness of an independent human being and the everyday life of a French aristocrat in Paris.


Pirkiniai-issimoketinai-2304The second finalist, Buying on Time, by Canadian-Lithuanian author, Antanas Šileika, consists of thirteen interrelated short stories about Lithuanian emigrant family life in Canada told with plenty of humour and gentle irony. Although it seems that the author tells his own story, in fact, this book is not autobiographical. Šileika’s book has received considerable attention in Canada and has won several awards.

Is-dvieju-renkuosi-trecia-2301The author of the third contestant and the winner of the Best Lithuanian Book-2015, Iš dviejų renkuosi trečią: mano mažoji odisėja (Out of the Two I Prefer the Third: My Little Odyssey), Dalia Staponkutė, is a Lithuanian writer, philosopher and translator currently living in Cyprus. In her second book, Staponkutė continues to tell the story about her journey as a Lithuanian, a woman and a mother abroad, only this time, from cultural and philosophical reflections she turns toward intimacy. The book also won the prize for the most creative book of the year in Lithuania.

Lithuanian Diaspora Exhibition Back in Lithuania

lietuviskoji leidybaAfter the successful presentations in Norway, Switzerland, and Italy, the travelling exhibition “Lithuanian Publishing in Post-WWII Europe” is back in Lithuania. On 27 January 2016 it was opened at Pasvalys Marius Katiliškis Public Library as part of a day-long event “The Library and the 21st Century Society”. Opening remarks were delivered by Jolanta Budriūnienė, head of the Lithuanian Studies Research Department (former Lituanica Department) of the National Library of Lithuania, who noted that the collection of Lithuanian DP publishing, 1945-1952, housed at the National Library of Lithuania, is of particular value for its unique content, produced under extremely difficult conditions. In 2011, it was recognized by UNESCO — the collection was included in UNESCO’s “World Memory” programme for the Lithuanian National Register. Pasvalys M. Katiliškis Public Library is only the first stop for this exhibition. Its organizer, the National Library of Lithuania, is planning to take it to all major public libraries in the country.

Lithuania’s Image in Western Media

On 4 November, the National Library of Lithuania hosted a discussion about Lithuania in the pages of Western media in 1990s and today; Vilnius Santara-Sviesa Club and Lituanica Department organized it.

From the left to right: Vykintas Pugačiauskas, dr. Dovilė Budrytė, Valdonė Budreckaitė, Gintė Damušis
From the left to right: Vykintas Pugačiauskas, dr. Dovilė Budrytė, Valdonė Budreckaitė, Gintė Damušis

Valdonė Budreckaitė, senior researcher at Lituanica Department, began with a virtual exhibition No, my friends, we won‘t go slow,” dedicated to the time in history when Lithuania was fighting for its independence and its depiction in Western press. The exhibition was prepared by the Lituanica Department in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania. Gintė Damušis, a Lithuanian diplomat, who in 1979-1991 led the Lithuanian Information Centre with its offices in New York and Washington, D.C., shared memories about the dissemination of information and an important role played by the LIC in promoting Lithuania’s independence in the US and other Western countries. Vykintas Pugačiauskas, foreign news editor at the Lithuanian National Radio and Television, discussed Lithuania’s image in contemporary media. Georgia Gwinnett College professor, Dr. Dovilė Budrytė, who also currently teaches at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, moderated the event.