Vilnius Review

16/09/2025

❝Dangerous times. Strange days.
No matter when you leave home – it's night.
Night and the flames of camp stoves in the sky
As if a crowd of tourists had waded
Into a forest glade.❞

Today is a special day for us – we are presenting poems from the latest collection by the remarkable poet Marius Burokas, “Seismografas” (Seismograph).

Marius served as editor-in-chief of Vilnius Review for almost a decade (2015-2024), and as editor, he was primarily concerned with the work of all other Lithuanian writers and translators. And now we are delighted to publish his own poems, translated by Rimas Užgiris.

These poems speak with exceptional subtlety about our turbulent times.

Read them here: https://vilniusreview.com/poetry/marius-burokas/

Photo by Lina Macevičienė.

Dangerous times. Strange days. No matter when you leave home – it's night. Night and the flames of camp stoves in the sky As if a crowd of tourists had waded Into a forest glade.

09/09/2025

❝The body is my news.
Everything is written there that others need to know.
And they need to know that what I experienced
is not so easy to forget.❞

We are delighted to present poems from the latest collection “Cantus Mariales” (Marialė) by poet Giedrė Kazlauskaitė. Poems from the cycle “The Body Is My News” were translated by Rimas Užgiris.

This is open, authentic, confessional poetry that captivates from the very first line.

Try out the poems here: https://vilniusreview.com/poetry/giedre-kazlauskaite/

Photo by Dirk Skiba.

The body is my news. Everything is written there that others need to know. And they need to know that what I experienced is not so easy to forget.

01/09/2025

For the beginning of autumn – a new essay by writer and traveler NARIUS KAIRYS about his childhood and the shifting perception of European identity. About a broken bone that has healed but still aches.

Read the essay here: https://vilniusreview.com/reflections-on-belonging/my-broken-european-identity/

Photo by Dainius Putinas.
Translated by Markas Aurelijus Piesinas.

Vilnius Review is a journal of Lithuanian literature in translation. It functions as a digital space for publishing English translations of works by Lithuanian writers – and once every year it takes the form of a paper anthology.

31/08/2025

A bunch of pics from the readings of Lithuanian poetry translations at Mint Vinetu. Thanks to everyone who came by! 🙏🏻

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📷 Saulius Vasiliauskas.

29/08/2025

The evening is expected to be warm and sunny. But a dose of Lithuanian poetry in English is the perfect way to start it!🌞🚀

Let's meet at 6 p.m. at Mint Vinetu with 4 talented translators: Rimas Užgiris, Agnieška Leščinska, Eglė Elena Murauskaitė, and Markas Aurelijus Piesinas.

21/08/2025

New, emerging voices in Lithuanian literature! We are delighted to present the works of three poets: Greta Leigaitė, Pijus Opera, Eglė Elena Murauskaitė! 𓂃🖊 🔥🤩

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GRETA LEIGAITĖ is a student of Lithuanian philology. In her free time, she enjoys doing crafts like knitting and crocheting. She also volunteers at a children’s camp. Her poetry is about everyday life, and she likes to hide behind the mask of ordinary objects. She uses it to express experiences that feel meaningful to her.

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PIJUS OPERA is famous for his rap and is gaining fame for his poems, and he hopes to become famous for being a sauna master, skateboarder, hiker, and more. Unfortunately, after holding the microphone for the first time at the age of six, he was stuck with it. This is why he now spends most of his time performing and creating with jazz musicians, embracing both sonic and lyrical improvisation. His poems can be found in cultural publications, and with those same jazz musicians, he organizes performative readings. He’s also studying Lithuanian philology.

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EGLĖ MURAUSKAITĖ is a Lithuanian text artist – art writer, poet, translator, and 2025 STAGES playwright co-resident at the National Drama Theater. Her works interweave the themes of the q***r body, nature, and the sacred, drawing on indigenous poetry of the various nations she had lived with as well as the intuitive movement and sound practices she leads. With a background in international security and fourteen years as a military consultant, Murauskaitė explores creative writing as a way of giving an equivalent voice to the shared underlying experiences of inhabiting the self, de-othering, and integrating increasingly fractured surroundings.

Enjoy their poems here: https://vilniusreview.com/debut/poetry-debuts-greta-leigaite-pijus-opera-egle-elena-murauskaite/

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At the end of the publication, as always, we asked the debutants a few questions about their attitude towards literary tradition, their favorite foreign authors, and how they see themselves in the future. 🚀

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Poetry by Greta Leigaitė and Pijus Opera were translated by Agnieška Leščinska.

11/08/2025

❝Back in the day, Michael was God the Father for all jocks and teenagers who didn’t have authority figures. The first book I read in German was Michael Jordan’s biography. [...] On the basketball court, I would throw shots just like him, with my tongue out.❞

The new, outstanding essay BE LIKE MIKE by writer Deividas Preišegalavičius addresses topics such as the estrangement between father and son, disillusionment, hero worship, the gap between fantasy and reality, and more. The essay, originally published in Lithuanian in the magazine Literatūra ir menas, was translated by Markas Aurelijus Piesinas.

Read the full text here: https://vilniusreview.com/essays/deividas-preisegalavicius/

Illustration: Stasys Krasauskas. Basketball. From the series Motion, 1970. Print, zincography, 50 x 33 cm. From the MO Museum collection.

01/08/2025

Poems by two Lithuanian writers have been selected for the CLMP (Community of Literary Magazines and Presses) monthly recommendations list. The list features texts written and translated by women.

See the full list here: https://www.clmp.org/news/a-reading-list-for-women-in-translation-month-2025/

Read the poems by Sara Poisson translated by Egle Murauskaite:

https://vilniusreview.com/poetry/sara-poisson-nothing-ready-to-make-some-noise/

Read the poems by Erika Drungytė translated by Medeinė Tribinevičius:

https://vilniusreview.com/poetry/erika-drungyte-bucolics/

24/07/2025

WHY DO WE WRITE?

A conversation with Lina Buividavičiūtė, Tomas Petrulis, Ieva Dumbrytė, and Mykolas Sauka.

All these authors published either their second or third books in 2024, and each one was noticed by readers and critics alike. This conversation might be a glimpse into what could be called Lithuania’s emerging “middle generation” of writers: people who are steadily carving out a brighter presence in the literary landscape.

Interview was conducted by Saulius Vasiliauskas, translated by Kotryna Garanašvili.

Read the text here: https://vilniusreview.com/interviews/why-do-we-write-a-conversation/

17/07/2025

Good news for Vilnius Review and Lithuanian literature – our magazine is now available in Cambridge, at Grolier Poetry Book Shop.

The Grolier Poetry Book Shop is oldest continuously operated book shop in the United States dedicated solely to the sale of poetry books.

Founded in 1927 by Adrian Gambet and Gordon Cairnie, the original shop stocked mainly private press books, some poetry, and a sampling of avant-garde literature. Frequented over the years by the poets mentioned above, as well as others such as Charles Olson, Anais Nin, Seamus Heaney, Frank Bidart, Robert Pinsky, David Ferry, the literary tradition became well established.

Read the full story: https://www.grolierpoetrybookshop.org/history