British Council Market Focus Cultural Programme – seminars
All the following events take place at Olympia Conference Centre, London
A dialogue between poets: Baltic and UK poets explore memory and history
Maarja Kangro, Kārlis Vērdiņš and Tomas Venclova
UK writer: Nick Makoha
Chair: Ellen Hinsey
Poets Corner
Tuesday 10 April, 13.00 – 14.00
Maarja Kangro (Estonia) has published five collections of poetry, revolving around themes of ephemerality, desire, and redemption. Kārlis Vērdiņš (Latvia) is the author of six collections of poetry for adults and children, containing work that is gentle, vivid and intimate as it explores ideas of coming to terms with one’s self. Tomas Venclova (Lithuania) is Professor Emeritus of Slavonic Literature at Yale University, and his poems have been translated into many languages. They will discuss the political and aesthetic dimension of memory and history alongside British poet Nick Makoha, chaired by Ellen Hinsey.
Andrei Ivanov in conversation with Tim Marshall
English PEN Literary Salon
Tuesday 10 April, 13.30 – 14.00
Estonian-born, Russian-speaking Andrei Ivanov is the author of six novels and winner of several high-profile awards, including the Russian Booker Prize in 2012.
The English PEN Literary Salon showcases leading UK writers alongside acclaimed international authors from the Market Focus.
Writing history as fiction: the Baltics and beyond
Kristina Sabaliauskaitė and Rein Raud
UK Writer: Leila Aboulela
Chair: Alex Clark
The Cross-Cultural Hub
Tuesday 10 April, 16.00 – 17.00
Why are writers drawn to the past, and why do readers follow them there? What do historical novels tell us about the past, or the present? Which universal themes occur in any time period? Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, whose Silva Rerum saga – set in the years 1659-1795 in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth and across England, France, the Netherlands and Germany – is considered Lithuania’s most important literary event of the past decade, and Rein Raud, whose recently-translated novel The Death of the Perfect Sentence takes place in Soviet-occupied Estonia discuss these questions with chair Alex Clark.
Revealed or lost in translation: literature from the Baltics
Kārlis Vērdiņš and Maarja Kangro
Romas Kinka, Christopher Moseley
Chair: Danny Hahn
Literary Translation Centre
Tuesday 10 April, 16:00-17:00
How much can be ‘lost’ or ‘revealed’ by translation? How does a translated work co-exist with the original? And how can we translate different genres such as poetry, folk songs, and dialects? Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian are very different languages, and their idiosyncrasies make them undeniably challenging to translate. In this session Latvian writer Kārlis Vērdiņš and Estonian writer Maarja Kangro discuss their experiences of translating and being translated. We’ll also hear from translation experts Romas Kinka (Lithuanian) and Christopher Moseley (Estonian, Latvian) on the experiences and methods of translating from Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian into other world languages. Chaired by Danny Hahn.
Finding new voices: children's literature from the Baltics
Luīze Pastore
Roger Thorp, Aušra Kiudulaitė, Penny Thomas, Emma Wright and Ulla Saar
Chair: Pam Dix
Children’s Hub
Wednesday 11 April, 10.00 – 11.00
Each of the Baltic countries has a flourishing children’s book market, previously little known in the UK. This panel discussion explores the publication choices of several UK children’s publishers and introduces the authors / illustrators and the books they have chosen to publish. We will look at the journey to publication and what these books will bring to the UK children’s market.
Programmed by IBBY UK & Firefly Press.
Sinking Europe? European narratives in times of change
Mihkel Mutt, Kristina Sabaliauskaitė and Tomas Venclova
UK writer: Sathnam Sanghera
Chair: TBC
The Cross-Cultural Hub
Wednesday 11 April, 10.00 – 11.00
Is Europe sinking, rising, or just changing? We discuss this with Mihkel Mutt, author of several highly-praised books on Estonia’s transition from a Soviet republic to part of the free world; Lithuanian Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, whose historical novels look at the changing state of Europe across the 17th and 18th centuries; Tomas Venclova, whose poetry has explored the issues of life under totalitarian rule; and writer Sathnam Sanghera whose work as a journalist and a writer engages with a changing Europe.
Author of the Day: Nora Ikstena
Chair: TBC
English PEN Literary Salon
Wednesday 11 April, 13.00 – 13.30
The British Council presents Latvian Author of the Day, Nora Ikstena, one of the most visible, and influential prose writers in Latvia.
The English PEN Literary Salon showcases leading UK writers alongside acclaimed international authors from the Market Focus.
Author of the Day: Mihkel Mutt
Chair: TBC
English PEN Literary Salon
Wednesday 11 April, 14.00 – 14.30
The British Council presents Estonian Author of the Day, Mihkel Mutt, widely considered one of the most provocative contemporary Estonian authors.
The English PEN Literary Salon showcases leading UK writers alongside acclaimed international authors from the Market Focus.
Interpreting cultures through languages: Russia, Europe and the West
Andrei Ivanov
Sergejs Timofejevs
UK writer: Menna Elfyn
Chair: Sasha Dugdale
The Cross-Cultural Hub
Wednesday 11 April, 14.30 – 15.30
Estonian-born Andrei Ivanov grew up in a Russian proletarian family, and his novels, though set in Estonia, are written in Russian and focus on Russian characters. He has won several high-profile awards, including the Russian Booker Prize in 2012. Estonian writer Rein Raud combines prolific literary activities with a successful academic career as a cultural theorist and philosopher. Sergejs Timofejevs is a member of the Latvian Russian poetry collective Orbita. Orbita not only creates multimedia poetic work but actively seeks to create dialogues between Russian and Latvian speaking authors. Menna Elfyn’s poetry has been published in bilingual English and Welsh editions. In conversation with Sasha Dugdale, join us for a discussion on the opportunities and limitations of writing in-and-out of different languages.
Author of the Day: Kristina Sabaliauskaitė
Chair: TBC
English PEN Literary Salon
Wednesday 11 April, 15.00 – 15.30
The British Council presents Lithuanian Author of the Day, Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, whose historical saga Silva Rerum, set in 1659-1795, is considered to be the most important literary event of the last decade in Lithuania.
The English PEN Literary Salon showcases leading UK writers alongside acclaimed international authors from the Market Focus.
Transformations: women’s writing from the edges
Undine Radzevičiūtė and Nora Ikstena
UK writer: Alys Conran
Chair: Bidisha
The Cross-Cultural Hub
Wednesday 11 April, 16.00 – 17.00
Nora Ikstena’s novel Soviet Milk, a Latvian bestseller recently translated into English, looks at the lives of three women – daughter, mother and grandmother – during twenty years of socialist rule. Undine Radzevičiūtė’s internationally praised novel Fishes and Dragons depicts the clash of civilisations, and the fundamental questions that this clash raises. UK writer Alys Conran, who has worked with disadvantaged groups to increase access to creative writing, and whose novel Pigeon examines the roles of the voiceless in society, will join us to discuss women’s writing – as a term to be embraced, rejected or complicated – with Bidisha.
Undinė Radzevičiūtė in conversation with Georgina Godwin
English PEN Literary Salon
Thursday 12 April, 10.00 – 10.30
Undinė Radzevičiūtė is an internationally acclaimed writer, the author of five novels and a collection of short stories.
The English PEN Literary Salon showcases leading UK writers alongside acclaimed international authors from the Market Focus.
Writing the City: Baltic spaces, British places
Kristina Sabaliauskaitė and Inga Ābele
UK writer: Vahni Capildeo
Chair: Steven Fowler
The Cross-Cultural Hub
Thursday 12 April, 10.00 – 11.00
What attracts writers to cities, and what is it about a city that inspires writers? What happens to an author – or their writing, or their characters – when their own identity comes into contact with that of a city? Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, whose works of fiction have seen her shortlisted for the ANGELUS Central European Literary Prize in 2016, joins Latvian poet, prose writer and playwright Inga Ābele. Abele’s work is known for the deep psychological portraits of her characters, and the effect of the space they find themselves in on their narratives. Vahni Capildeo’s Measures of Expatriation explores the self in migration in a series of poems that follow a character as she attempts to “remake” herself in modern cities. This seminar is chaired by Steven Fowler, who works on cross-national poetry collaborations through the Enemies project, and whose poetry is influenced by the environment it finds itself in.
Inga Ābele in conversation with Nicolette Jones
English PEN Literary Salon
Thursday 12 April, 13.00 – 13.30
Inga Ābele is a prose writer, poet and playwright and is the author of three novels and three collections of short stories. She is one of the most important Latvian writers of her generation due to her unique style, which embraces the richness of language and human psychology.
The English PEN Literary Salon showcases leading UK writers alongside acclaimed international authors from the Market Focus.
Through a child’s eyes: Baltic and UK perspectives on fiction writing
Nora Ikstena, Luize Pastore and Alvydas Šlepikas
UK writer: Rebecca Stott
Chair: Claire Armitstead
The Cross-Cultural Hub
Thursday 12 April, 13.00 – 14.00
Claire Armitstead chairs this discussion about writing stories from childhood, or from the perspective of a child. Recent novels by Latvian writer Nora Ikstena and Lithuanian author Alvydas Šlepikas have both explored childhoods lived out under oppressive regimes – Ikstena’s novel Soviet Milk looking at three generations of women over 20 years, and Šlepikas telling the story of the orphans known as ‘wolf children’, who came to Lithuania at the end of the Second World War. Luize Pastore writes fiction for children, her book Dog Town is an exciting adventure set in a sketchy part of Riga with talking dogs and mysterious men. Rebecca Stott’s memoir In the Days of Rain tells the story of her life in an ultra-hardline Christian fundamentalist creationist sect. Here these writers discuss the similarities and differences in their work, and the effects of childhood on later life.
