Literary Kaunas Atnaujinta: 2011-03-10 10:11:23

Kaunas is a city that cherishes its historically deep-rooted traditions of literature. The great Polish-Lithuanian author Adomas Mickevičius lived and wrote here; the classic Lithuanian writers Antanas Baranauskas and Motiejus Valančius are also tightly associated with the city of Kaunas.

Kaunas of 1918–1940, the provisional capital at the time, also became the capital of Lithuanian cultural life. The publishing houses which printed the most important cultural and literary periodicals in the country were all in Kaunas. Vytautas Magnus University was also opened (functioning since 1922) and was known for its particularly strong faculties of the Humanities and Theology, where some of the greatest contemporary Lithuanian writers held lectures: Vincas Krėvė, Vincas Mykolaitis–Putinas, Balys Sruoga, Maironis, Juozas Tumas–Vaižgantas, Juozapas Herbačiauskas.

In 1919, on the initiative of Balys Sruoga, an artists' gathering "Werewolf" ("Vilkolakis") was established in Kaunas. Association of writers and painters functioned from 1919 to 1934 (in actuality, until 1952) and organized literature evenings, commemorations, lectures. For the public, "Werewolf" offered improvised theatre shows, which brought contemporary political and cultural issues to the fore; the texts for the plays were written by Balys Sruoga himself, as well as Vytautas Bičiūnas and Kazys Binkis.

An important role in the cultural and literary life of Kaunas was played by the Association of Lithuanian Artists, which functioned in 1920–1934 and united about 100 representatives of various arts. One of the initiating members and secretaries of the association was Balys Sruoga, who wrote letters to the Lithuanian government and Lithuanians living in the USA, inquiring about the establishment of opera and drama theatres in Kaunas, the publishing of World Literature Reader, the awarding of scholarships and prizes and about other cultural matters. Sruoga quickly became a prominent figure of the cultural and Bohemian life of Kaunas. In the first years of independence, the Association of Lithuanian Artists performed many of the functions of institutions that were yet to be established at that time: opened new theatres, founded the Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis' National Art Museum, organized exhibitions of fine arts, held drama competitions, prepared cultural publications for release. Besides Sruoga, the first management of the association also included classic Lithuanian writers Jonas Mačiulis–Maironis and Faustas Kirša.

In 1932, the Association of Lithuanian Writers was founded at the VMU Faculty of Humanities. The association held literature evenings, commemorated writers' anniversaries and in 1936 had established the Literature Foundation. Starting with 1935, the Association of Lithuanian writers gave annual national awards for the most outstanding achievements in Lithuanian literary fiction. The first winners of the awards were Ieva Simonaitytė, Liudas Dovydėnas, Jonas Aistis, Salomėja Nėris, Bernardas Brazdžionis. From 1935 to 1938, the association published a newspaper "Literature News". On June 28, 1940, by the order of the occupant government, the activities of the Association of Lithuanian Writers were terminated.

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At the time, the most popular place for artists' gatherings and discussions in Kaunas was "Konrado kavinė" ("Conrad's Café"), named after its owner Maksas Konradas. The café, which was located in a building of late 19th century, used to attract Bohemian personalities of Kaunas' cultural life, hosted noisy artists' parties filled with stories and jokes and heated discussions on topical issues in Lithuanian politics and culture. The professors of VMU had their own favourite place, "Metropolis", another restaurant that was very popular during the interwar.

The Soviet occupation of 1940 had ended the period of maturation and prosperity in Lithuanian literature. Some of the members of the Association of Lithuanian Writers were exiled to Siberia, others retreated to the West in fear of repressions. In the Soviet era, the centre of Lithuanian cultural and literary life shifted to Vilnius. In Kaunas, only a handful of writers were keeping the literary traditions alive. Special attention to literature was given by Kaunas-based culture journal "Nemunas" and the newly established tradition of annually held festival "Poezijos pavasaris" ("Spring of Poetry"), which culminated with awards handed out to the most outstanding poets. In the Soviet years, the festival used to be held in Palemonas (Kaunas district), near the Lithuanian poet's Salomėja Nėris' Memorial Museum.

Today "Poezijos pavasaris" is already an international poetry festival, while the annual poetry awards are held traditionally in the garden of the Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum. Winners of the Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize, writers Donaldas Kajokas and Kęstutis Navakas, are currently living and writing in Kaunas.

Kaunas has been a major source of inspiration to many Lithuanian writers, especially those that had to emigrate. The image of Kaunas is especially vivid in the novel "Aštuoni lapai" ("Eight Leaves") by Birutė Pukelevičiūtė, Pulgis Andriušis' memoirs and the novel "Tipelis" ("A Character"), Petronėlė Orintaitė's memoirs. Writer Julius Kaupas' series of tales "Daktaras Kripštukas pragare" ("Doctor Kripštukas in Hell", 1948), created while living abroad, offers a truly vivid description of Kaunas' panorama. The action of these tales, intertwining reality and mystical events and characters, takes place in actual spaces of Kaunas: Kaunas' Town Hall, Vilniaus and Gardino streets in the Old Town, Ąžuolynas and Laisvės alėja. The author builds the illusion that reality and fantasy co-exist with each other. The Kaunas of Kaupas' tales becomes the centre of the world.

*More about this topic is available in the article "Literary Kaunas" by Assoc. Prof. Dalia Kuizinienė in the publication “Revelations of Kaunas”, 2009 (Kaunas: VMU).