Translated by: Dominika Jagiełka

Laima Kreivytė “States of Weightlessness”

The poems of Laima Kreivytė bring contemporary reality into focus – not only in Lithuania. They comment on, and often openly criticise, patriarchal and capitalist stereotypes, arguing for personal freedom: artistic, economic and sexual. In doing so, they move beyond hackneyed slogans associated with excessive declarativity, drawing extensively on autobiographical detail. They successfully combine what is private and singular, rooted in the sensibility of the poet-artist, with universal visions of femininity. The voice of the lyrical subject in Kreivytė’s poems is strong, though it does not sound as unequivocal as one might expect. This is because social engagement goes hand in hand with interesting literary devices that lend subtlety to the Lithuanian author’s idiolect. Translator Dominika Jagiełka superbly renders the plasticity of the similes and the multi-genre formal explorations (long poems with a litany-like structure, situational and narrative poems, concrete poetry), including references to scientific terminology (the states of weightlessness in the title do not function here as an empty metaphor). Although the question of femininity is central to this poetry – understood both in (post-)feminist terms and within the broader context of the Anthropocene crisis – the perspective thus outlined can be misleading. Kreivytė’s poetry sparkles with small, almost intimate confessions and images of everyday life. Intimacy, in fact, proves to be the key to discussing women’s position not only in society, but also in interpersonal relationships – romantic, familial and friendly. Nor should the performative dimension of this poetry be overlooked. Individual sequences (references to history, the reclamation of cultural patterns, ecological postulates) come together to form vivid images, charged with poetic force.

Jakub Kornhauser

 

The book was co- financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage  within the framework of Culture Promotion Fund.

Laima Kreivytė

LAIMA KREIVYTĖ (b. 1972) is a Lithuanian curator, artist, poet, and writer. She holds degrees in art history and theory from the Vilnius Academy of Arts, as well as in culture and gender studies from Central European University in Budapest. Kreivytė is the author of poetry collections Sapfo skai(s)tykla (2013) and Artumo aritmetika (2019), as well as the editor and author of various art catalogues and books. She actively shapes cultural and artistic development by promoting women artists and introducing innovative curatorial forms. Her work includes organising feminist and queer exhibitions and performances, as well as engaging with themes of freedom and equality. Kreivytė is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture Award for journalistic writing (2007) and the Lithuanian Government’s Culture and Art Award (2018).

Photo by Ineta Armanaviciute

Dominika Jagiełka

DOMINIKA JAGIEŁKA (b. 1995) is a translator from Lithuanian, graduate of Baltic studies at the University of Warsaw and a scholarship holder at Vilnius University. She has taken part in translation seminars and literary projects, translating into Polish the poetry and prose of Gintaras Bleizgys, Ona Jautakė, Akvilė Kavaliauskaitė, Aistis Žekevičius, Indrė Valantinaitė, Sara Poisson, and others. Her work has been published in Fabularia and Tekstualia, and her translations are also included in the anthology Pauzy w milczeniu. Wybór współczesnej poezji litewskiej (Pauses in Silence: A Selection of Contemporary Lithuanian Poetry, 2023). Jagiełka also translated Ieva Toleikytė’s Slippery Red Palace (2024). She works in marketing and new media, and currently lives in Warsaw.