“MO in the Field” poetry readings MO Museum The MO readings are ending their eighth season on the terrace – on August 13 at 19 p.m., they invite you to the last event of the year, which will feature poets Gytis Norvilas and Dainius Gintalas. Over the course of their existence, the MO readings have become one of the largest events in Vilnius poetry – they bring together different literary experiences, perspectives and voices, and new generations of listeners and authors are growing.
“At the beginning of these events, for some of the listeners, it was one of their first encounters with poetry, and now some of them are actively creating authors, critics, and editors themselves,” says Zigmas Pakštaitis, the initiator of the “MO lauke” poetry readings.
Zigma, what changes have you noticed over the past eight years – from the audience gathering at readings to the field of poetry itself?
Perhaps the easiest way to see the changing number of listeners is to look at the number of events that are constantly increasing. I remember that the poet Rimvydas Stankevičius participated in one of the first readings, and then we discussed with him that if thirty people gathered, it would be good. Over fifty came – we considered it a great success. Now we get two hundred listeners at one event.
In the first years, the readings were attended more by people from the literary community, but now the audience is much wider. It is gratifying when people who are not regular followers of such events or all cultural news, or who are just curious about new books, come and hear and perhaps become interested in the authors’ work. Perhaps for some this is their only contact with contemporary poetry.
Looking back, it’s strange even to me that we haven’t changed much about these events since they started. It’s a bit ironic – today, the need to constantly transform and improve everything is often emphasized in order for the activities to continue, while for us the opposite happened: we do the same thing every year and it works well every year. (laughing)
Perhaps the fact that the audience continues to expand without the format changing significantly suggests a well-functioning organizational logic. What is it? How do you put together a reading program, what is important to you to include, and what do you perhaps purposefully avoid?
Perhaps I’m exaggerating a bit when I say that we don’t change anything – after all, we involve new authors every year, we have organized events for translators and deceased authors, invited them to thematic poetry events in Kaunas and Vilnius, organized readings where authors take turns reading one poem at a time, and have to respond to another, previous text with one text…
The beginning of these poetry readings was related to a dream, what kind of poetry events should be, how they should sound, what literary process I would like to participate in with my colleagues and friends. There were very few such events – especially in the summer. Apparently, it worked – the number of visitors shows that I was not the only one who missed it.
Respect for the audience and the authors is important – good sound, comfortable seating, and microphones that don’t squeak. I’ve been to more than one poetry event where very good authors read very good texts, but you can’t hear them because the equipment echoes and is noisy. Duration is also important – if the events go on for too long, and halfway through the second hour, people start to fidget or leave, then the authors feel bad too. That’s why we try to fit it into one hour, and when more poets are reading – for example, at events for young authors – we give everyone the same number of minutes – listening to a literary text requires concentration, so you need to dose it.
I always try to invite several authors at a time. The contrast between different voices and personalities, text architectures allows us to hear them better, the participants highlight each other, bring together each other’s readers. Sometimes it is unexpected even for the authors themselves to hear how their poems sound in a new way. In general, I invite to all events those authors whom I believe in and admire, whom I consider to be masters or who are becoming such. When this happens repeatedly event After the event, the audience gains confidence and returns.
For the third summer, one of the poetry reading events at MO lauke is dedicated to new voices discovered during the open call. What is the importance of these events?
During these events, both I and the audience leave our familiar surroundings and hear something new. We usually announce an open invitation, ask authors to send 3 poems and a sentence about themselves, then we read and evaluate. There are always many unseen, unheard participants who come into view. Although these readings always make me afraid – I don’t know if – and who – will respond to the invitation, sometimes until the last days it is not clear whether the event will have to be canceled at all, because many authors send texts at the last moment.
You also have to send a lot of negative responses, so perhaps the most important job, both at such events and in the editorial offices of cultural publications, is to know how to say “no” in a way that doesn’t close the door, but encourages you to continue learning and improving. When there are fifty people who want to apply, and only ten places, something inevitably gets left behind. But behind the line is not overboard.
You want to discover budding authors who seem capable of running a literary marathon, who have the desire or the ability to become good writers. It is important to encourage them, invite them, and show them to the public – if after these events there is even one person who will hook and wants to be in the literary process, it will be a win.
Do you notice how the audience grows along with the event, becomes involved in the world of literature, and a new circle of listeners and authors is formed?
Eight years of poetry readings at MO Lauke have undoubtedly had a certain weight. On the one hand, I have already invited a significant number of authors whom I dreamed of inviting to read, which means that every year I have to step outside my usual field of vision, explore and get to know new creators. On the other hand, over a long period of time, these readings have created a relationship with society and become part of beautiful personal stories: someone was seventeen or eighteen years old at the beginning of these events and this was one of their first acquaintances with poetry, and now some of these people are actively creative authors themselves, literature master’s students – they write reviews, engage in criticism, organize events themselves or work in publishing houses. I have heard: “I came to your events and realized that I need to be in the literary process.”
This is a lasting mark on the fabric of society, which is strange and joyful to see. It reminds us of responsibility and the fact that events, processes, and people we meet have an impact – it is easy to hurt someone, demotivate them, say something that will fight back from creation forever. Bad impulses spread very easily, but good ones require effort.
When organizing readings, you come into direct contact with a generation that is just beginning to establish itself in the literary world. To what extent do you manage to detect new or intriguing trends, themes, and modes of expression?
It is very difficult to talk about significant trends when our events are quite short and many new participants join them, but I definitely notice that in recent years there has been an increase in humor and lightness in the readings. It seems to me that not taking your work too seriously is a great trait. Of course, you need to treat it responsibly, but it is important not to get carried away, not to play only with difficult, confusing topics, not to cram in intricacies. That is why it is interesting when authors knock on the literary world by examining small or witty things. A good example of this is the poet Donald Kajokas, who is able to combine a light, clarifying, smile-inducing text with depth, paradox, and transformative insight. It seems that the younger generation of authors is increasingly actively looking for such lightness.
This year’s open call selection featured a number of professional poems, which I’ve noticed in previous years. People work as data analysts, bankers, doctors, accountants, psychologists, and write about their work. This trend may not have taken tangible form yet, but it could happen eventually. Poetry doesn’t need to be limited by saying that only certain themes or means of expression are suitable for it. The text itself usually justifies these means.
Why is professional poetry on the rise? It is likely that work topics have negative associations for the older generation and are associated with the Soviet era – perhaps many authors born during that period avoided writing about work, it was more of a propaganda poetry genre. Now, people are approaching professional topics who can tackle them without a discouraging tone.
The MO space also plays an important role in the readings. Apart from the quality you mentioned, what else does the departure from more conventional literary routes bring to the readings? Does the museum context add additional nuances to the events?
Once these events begin, MO Museum was still quite new and aimed to change the public’s perception of museums, to show them as lively, attractive, interesting places. MO did many things that seemed unusual for museums at the time – from large-scale marketing campaigns to communicating with the general public. I think that events such as “MO outdoors” helped to connect very different audiences – visitors looking for a fun place to spend their free time, and some cultural professionals who were perhaps skeptical about the brightness and playfulness of the MO museum.
At the very beginning, when communicating with the authors, the museum did not have much trust between them, there were walls that needed to be crossed. Meanwhile, in the last five years, the attitude has completely changed – the museum is becoming a kind of springboard, a place where the authors feel heard and seen. It seems to me that one of the most important things in these readings is that we do not try to impose anything on the authors, we allow them to be in their work the way they want, we do not seek to navigate in one direction or the other or squeeze them into a box.
Because of this, we can invite lesser-known, niche, very unique creators – the audience still gathers in large numbers because they trust that they will be really good. And they do! Then small miracles happen when people get to know authors who may never be in the top ten of best-selling books, discover very authentic, deep and warm poetry, and leave with wonderful impressions. The public trust, wide communication, and wide variety of activities of the MO Museum allow poetry, which is usually a quiet and introverted activity, to be made famous and spread.
“MO lauke” events – poetry readings, concerts and other formats – have become a summer tradition in Vilnius, a kind of small city festival spread throughout the warm season. How do poetry reading events interact with the city?
In search of interesting authors, you have to look around other cities, but the more you look, the more it becomes clear that Vilnius is the capital of Lithuanian poetry. And our poetry events have become quite a part of the literary landscape of this capital – through them, young authors grow up a bit, lesser-known ones appear more clearly, and listeners discover and get to know the literature of their time in new ways.
The festival includes not only poetry, but also a musical program, and with both it reaches hundreds of young listeners. This is significant, because it is an acquaintance with both professional, top-quality work and various experimental, alternative or young, budding authors. A two-fold process occurs here – in some cases, visitors come expecting culture as entertainment, and when they come, they always take away a deeper experience. From the very beginning, we created the festival to be open and free, so it is especially important now that the museum, which has become a cultural organization of Vilnius and is supported by Vilnius city municipalities, can continue and grow it.
“MO in the Field” poetry readings – August 13 at 19 p.m. on the terrace of the MO Museum. The event is free.
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