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.