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An autobiographical account of the armed resistance against the
Soviet Union, which took place between 1944-1956. Published in
English for the first time in unabridged form, Luksa's memoir
remains one of the few reliable eye-witness accounts of the
"Invisible Front", as dubbed by Soviet security forces. At its
zenith 28,000 guerilla fighters participated in battles and
skirmishes throughout Lithuania, Luksa (partisan codename
Daumantas) being one of the leaders. Forest Brothers also documents
the role of women in the resistance, giving equal credit to these
often silent partners. In 1948 Luksa and two comrades broke through
the Iron Curtain on the Polish border. He sought training from the
French intelligence and from the CIA. Luksa was flown back into the
Soviet Union under the radar on the night of October 4, 1950. He
managed to survive and operate eleven months until his near capture
and death on the night of September 5, 1951. His account, written
during 1948-1950, while he was living in hiding in Paris, describes
in vivid scenes and dialogue the daily struggles of the resistance.
Kukutis made his appearance in the Stalinist era, at the height of
the forced collectivization of Lithuanian farming by the occupying
Soviet forces which saw the obliteration of whole rural
communities, and the introduction of oppressive laws and
regulations. Completely incapable of understanding, let alone
abiding by, these strictures, Kukutis - the outsider, the trickster
- functioned outside of regulation and moved between different
worlds, unhindered by borders and limits. In creating the character
of Kukutis, Marcelijus Martinaitis found a voice which could
articulate the anger, frustration and passions of the Lithuanian
people, a voice which, contrary to all expectations, managed to
escape the Soviet censor's pen and which, a decade after
publication of 'The Ballads of Kukutis', was to become the catalyst
for revolution in the Baltics. Indeed, during the mass political
rallies of the late 1980s and early '90s, poems from 'The Ballads'
were chanted, sung and performed everywhere. In this volume,
Martinaitis's witty, ironic and incisive poems are published
together, in English in Laima Vince's superb translation, as a
single collection for the first time.
Poetry. Translated by Laima Vince. "To the pantheon of East
European poets--Zagajewski, Szymborska, Herbert, Holub--we must now
add Martinaitis. K.B.,' the poet's common-man alter ego, has one
foot in the miseries and fears of the post-Soviet era, one in the
usual turmoils of the human self. In Laima Vince's wonderful
translation, this poetry is sharp, comic, salty, yet at the same
time overflowing with compassion and tenderness"--Alicia Suskin
Ostriker. Marcelijus Martinaitis is a well-known Lithuanian poet
and essayist. He has published ten collections of poetry. This is
his first collection in English.
Since 2005 the American International School of Hong Kong has
developed an Outdoor Education and Leadership Program that enables
the whole high school to annually go off campus and take part in
outdoor education and adventure, in community service, or in
leadership programs in a variety of locations. Every October, the
week before autumn break, regular high school classes are suspended
and all students take part in this off-campus program. The
Adventure Week program is designed to develop students holistically
in a way not possible in the classroom or home setting. During the
2013 - 14 academic year students from the American International
School of Hong Kong traveled to the following locations: Siem Reap,
Cambodia; Borneo, Malaysia; Guangzhou, China; Fiji; Bali,
Indonesia; North Island, New Zealand; and India. I challenged my
twelfth grade students to write travel essays reflecting on their
adventures and community service work in the various destinations
they visited. I also challenged myself to write a travel essay
about my experience as a teacher in Cambodia. This collection of
essays is the result of my students' work. In these essays students
reflect on the impact of poverty on children and families; on how
little it takes to make a person happy when life is stripped down
to its barest essentials; and on how good it feels to replace
electronic friendships with real ones.
Laima Vince takes us on a harrowing through-the-looking glass tour
of Lithuania in 1988 - 1989, during a time of great social and
political turmoil. In diary form, she gives us her personal,
unflinching account of the daily hardships that characterize this
faltering society--one filled with guns, poverty, bitterness,
mistrust, and sometimes, friendship. We see the full range of
emotions here as people try to live normal lives against a backdrop
of uncertainty. At times funny, at time poignant, this book
explores the extraordinary human cost of an oppressive system of
government, as well as the extraordinary human valor of those who
survive it. It shows us that, underneath, all people share the same
basic needs for freedom, for hope, and for love. This is a fine and
important book. Reviewed by Clint McCown
Julius, a telephone interpreter, works from his bedroom in Buenos
Aires interpreting phone calls between Lithuanian immigrants and
United Kingdom Social Services and the East London Women's Health
Clinic. Julius himself is an immigrant, first to the United States,
then to Argentina. Julius's Argentine partner, Xavier, was also an
immigrant, but has now returned home to Buenos Aires to enjoy an
early retirement. However, peace and quiet in their household is
disrupted by the constant phone calls from Julius's countrymen, who
are in trouble abroad. Julius's professionalism begins to crumble
when he is unexpectedly reunited with his childhood first love,
Joana, through a random phone call. The growing bond between Julius
and Joana adds to the tension and forces Julius to finally face
himself and come to terms with his past.
LOVE CULT AT THE ARCTIC CIRCLE presents two novellas. The first,
LOVE CULT AT THE ARCTIC CIRLCE, traces the trail of two young women
who meet at an intersection in Homer, Alaska and decide to go on a
reckless road trip to the Arctic Circle on a service road in a
compact car. Along the way they encounter a trucker on a death
mission, drunken armed hunters, and a love cult. Ultimately,
however, their biggest show-down comes when these two young women
confront each other. The second novella, EL DIABLO AT THE SAINT
CASIMIR'S POLISH-AMERICAN CATHOLIC CAMP FOR BOYS, tells the story
of Agnes, a devout Catholic single mother whose unwavering faith
leads her down a road from which there is no return.
A Fulbright grant enabled me to travel to Lithuania to record the
oral histories of women and men who were former partisan fighters,
liaisons, or supporters of Lithuania's post World War II armed
resistance against the Soviet Union. I also spoke to Jewish
Holocaust survivors and to women who lived to tell the tale of
Stalin's deportations to Siberia and Tajikistan. To hear these
stories I traveled to remote rural locations, bumping down dirt
roads in my Honda Civic. I sometimes slept in haylofts, helped out
with household chores, or sat behind the table, as the Lithuanian
saying goes, accepting the hospitality of my hosts. One visit was
seldom enough. Often after hours of talk, we cried together, but
more often we laughed. In 2007 - 2011 when I conducted these
interviews, the people I spoke with were already in their advanced
old age. I worried they might not recall the events of their youth
accurately. My worries proved to be unfounded. The stories told to
me were detailed and precise. I discovered that the memories that
remained most powerful at the end of these survivors lives were
memories of loves lived during times of trial and hardship. As I
listened, I was continually amazed that people who had experienced
torture, exile, loss, trauma, held one emotion close to their
hearts: That emotion was love. Each story told to me, at its core,
was a love story. That is why this collection of life stories is a
journey into the backwaters of the heart.
Laima Vince returns to post-Soviet Lithuania twenty years after
independence, and twenty years since she had participated in the
singing revolution, to rediscover the nation that had played such a
central role in her family's fate. The stories told in THE SNAKE IN
THE VODKA BOTTLE illuminate one woman's odyssey through the Baltic
States' troubled history and uncertain future. Spending time with
village verbal healers, trafficked teenage girls, activist social
workers, Chechen refugees and their Ambassador in Exile, and the
unsung heroes and dissidents of the Cold War era, Laima Vince
uncovers a spectrum of authentic voices.
The poets whose work is included in this anthology were born in the
1960s, when Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union, and mostly
started publishing after the country achieved independence in 1991.
Unlike their predecessors, the poets of this generation are not
concerned with political themes but rather with issues of
aesthetics and existential quests. While each follows his or her
unique path, they all share a penchant for experimentation and an
ironic, post-modern perspective, following European literary trends
rather than domestic poetic traditions.
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