Giedra Radvilavičiūtė (1960) could probably be called the most fashionable Lithuanian writer. This is strange, because she is one of the staunchest critics of the proliferation of poor-quality literature, and an outspoken advocate of a higher quality of reading. After teaching literature in a school and briefly doing research work in the USA, her writing career began in the late 1990s, when she started publishing essays in the cultural press. We might say that she is the mother of the modern Lithuanian essay, which is now the most popular genre of prose; but few can compare with her in terms of controlled style and structure. Her essays deal with everyday experiences, which are transformed as if by magic into wonderful spectacles. She often discusses the situation of woman, and questions various cultural and social stereotypes of the woman. A self-confessed admirer of Vladimir Nabokov, she is quite frank and personal in her literary work.

Šiąnakt aš miegosiu prie sienos (2010)

Radvilavičiūtė’s second collection of essays, shortlisted for the Book of the Year award in 2011, and a winner of the European Union Prize for Literature in 2012, in some ways continues the themes and moods of the first collection. The main character, if essays can be said to have characters at all, is a single and lonely woman of a certain age. However, the first book dealt with the relationships between men and women much more directly. This one is more circumspect, and the emphasis is on loneliness rather than on relationships. Loneliness is dreaded, desired, and impossible to achieve. The central theme is complimented by a broad variety of other themes, easily discernible references to mundane, everyday life, from brand names to Hollywood stars. It reveals her personal attitude towards society and its problems. Some critics note that these themes make the book easy to read for a very wide audience, hence its popularity. But it is not ‘popular’ literature. As writing, it is both complicated and skillfully controlled. The doyenne of the essay keeps getting better at it.