News

On 23 February the Literary Café of the Jerusalem Book Fair hosted a discussion on “Czesław Miłosz and Abraham Sutzkever: Two Poets of the Lost Vilnius“. Krzysztof Czyżewsky, poet, essayist and “practitioner of ideas” from Poland met with Prof. David G. Roskies (Ben-Gurion University) in a discussion moderated by Dr. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, literary critic and translator.

Participants of the discussion presented multicultural intellectual atmosphere of the pre-war Vilnius, where two outstanding poets Czesław Miłosz and Abraham Sutzkever started their literary careers at the same time. Though they wrote in different languages (Czesław Miłosz  in Polish, Abraham Sutzkever-in Yiddish) they both participated in the same poetry readings, Vilnius was the city of inspiration for both of them. The participants of the discussion shared memories of their meetings with both poets, read their poetry.

The Ambassador of Lithuania Darius Degutis greeted the participants of the discussion noting that this discussion is a part of a broad programme of the Government of Lithuania on Commemoration of the year of remembrance of Lithuanian citizens – Holocaust victims. The Ambassador informed that the memory of A. Sutzkever will be marked in Vilnius by unveiling a commemorative plague in May during the Holocaust survivors’ “March of the Living”

Lithuania is participating in the Jerusalem International Book Fair for the fourth consecutive time. The bulk of Lithuanian collection this year deals with Lithuania’s Jewish cultural and historical heritage, among them the newly printed Lithuanian translation of A. Sutzkever’s “From Vilna Ghetto”.

Lithuania’s participation in the Jerusalem International Book Fair is coordinated by the Centre for International Cultural Programmes, www.booksfromlithuania.lt  and the Lithuanian Embassy in the State of Israel.