Tomas Venclova (born 11 September 1937) is a Lithuanian poet, prose writer, scholar, philologist and translator of literature. He is one of the five founding members of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group . In 1977, following his dissident activities, he was forced to emigrate and was deprived of his Soviet citizenship. Since 1980, he has taught Russian and Polish literature at Yale University . Considered a major figure in world literature, he has received many awards, including the Prize of Two Nations (received jointly with Czesław Miłosz ), and The Person of Tolerance of the Year Award from the Sugihara Foundation, among other honors.
Life
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Tomas Venclova was born in Klaipėda in 1937. His father, Antanas , was a poet and Soviet politician. Tomas was educated at Vilnius University . He was one of the five founding members of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group , and took part in Lithuanian and Russian dissident movements.[1] He became friends with poets Anna Akhmatova and Boris Pasternak , as well as Natalya Gorbanevskaya and Joseph Brodsky . In Vilnius, he translated Baudelaire, T.S. Eliot , W.H. Auden , Robert Frost , Osip Mandelstam , Anna Akhmatova , Boris Pasternak , and other authors into Lithuanian. In Lithuania he was forbidden to publish his own work, except in samizdat , although one volume appeared in 1972, entitled A Sign of Speech . In 1977, following his dissident activities, he was forced to emigrate.[1]
He was invited by Czesław Miłosz to teach at the University of California at Berkeley .[2] He did not return to Lithuania until its independence in 1991. Since 1980, he has taught Russian and Polish literature at Yale University .[2]
He has published over twenty books including volumes of poetry, literary criticism, political commentary, literary biography, translation and books on Vilnius. His work has been translated into many languages including by Czesław Miłosz into Polish, and by Joseph Brodsky into Russian. He is active in the contemporary cultural life of Lithuania, and is one of its most well-respected figures.[1]
He lives in New Haven (Connecticut , United States ), in the past also temporarily in Vilnius and Kraków .
Selected honors and awards
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2023 Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award (Poland)[3]
2018 Doctor Honoris Causa of Göttingen University (Germany)
2017 Doctor Honoris Causa of Tbilisi University (Georgia)
2017 Doctor Honoris Causa of Vilnius University (Lithuania)
2017 HOMER - The European Medal of Poetry and Art – (Tbilisi )
2014 Petrarca-Prize (Germany)
2013 Honorary Citizen of Vilnius, Lithuania
2012 Lithuanian Cultural Prize
2012 Lithuanian Diplomacy Star from the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (for contributions to Lithuanian Human Rights)
2012 Person of Tolerance of the Year Award, Sugihara-Diplomats for Life Foundation
2011 Qinhai International Poetry Prize (China)
2008 Baltic Star (Russia)
2007 Member, Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences
2005 Jotvingiai Prize (Lithuania)
2005 New Culture of New Europe Prize
2002 Prize of Two Nations (received jointly with Czesław Miłosz)
2001 Borderland Award (Poland)
2000 Lithuanian National Prize
1990 Vilenica International Literary Prize (Slovenia)
Selected bibliography
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Books written in Lithuanian
Visi eilėraščiai: 1956–2010. Collected Poems . Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2010. 404 p.
Vilnius: asmeninė istorija . Vilnius: R. Paknio leidykla, 2011. 200 p.
Kitaip: poezijos vertimų rinktinė . Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla, 2006. 432 p.
Vilniaus vardai . Vilnius: R. Paknio leidykla, 2006. 333 p.
Sankirta: Eilėraščiai . Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla, 2005. 80 p.
Ligi Lietuvos 10 000 kilometrų . Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2003. 236 p.
Vilnius: Vadovas po miestą . Vilnius: R. Paknio leidykla, 2001. 216 p.
Manau, kad… Pokalbiai su Tomu Venclova . Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2000. 320 p.
Rinktinė . Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 1999. 216 p.
Reginys iš alėjos: eilėraščiai . Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 1998. 64 p.
Pašnekesys žiemą: eilėraščiai ir vertimai . Vilnius: Vaga Publishers [lt] , 1991. 376 p.
Vilties formos: eseistika ir publicistika . Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla, 1991. 544 p.
Tankėjanti šviesa: eilėraščiai . Chicago: Algimanto Mackaus knygų leidimo fondas, AM&M Publications, 1990. 72 p.
Tekstai apie tekstus . Chicago: Algimanto Mackaus knygų leidimo fondas, 1985. 240 p.
Lietuva pasaulyje: publicistika . Chicago: Akademinės skautijos leidykla, 1981. 292 p.
98 eilėraščiai . Chicago: Algimanto Mackaus knygų leidimo fondas, 1977. 142 p.
Kalbos ženklas: eilėraščiai . Vilnius: Vaga, 1972. 64 p.
Golemas, arba dirbtinis žmogus: pokalbiai apie kibernetiką . Vilnius, 1965. 272 p.
Raketos, planetos ir mes . Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1962. 168 p.
Lietuvos istorija visiems , I tomas. Vilnius: R. Paknio leidykla, 2018, 336 p.
Lietuvos istorija visiems , II tomas. Vilnius: R. Paknio leidykla, 2019, 380 p.*
Books written in Russian
Собеседники на пиру. Литературные эссе . Москва, НЛО, 2012, 624 с.
Статьи о Бродском. Москва : Baltrus, Новое издательство, 2005. 176 с.
Собеседники на пиру. Статьи о русской литературе . Vilnius: Baltos lankos,1997, 256 c.
Неустойчивое равновесие: восемь русских поэтических текстов . New Haven: YCIAS, 1986.
Books written in English
Magnetic North: Conversations with Tomas Venclova (Rochester, N. Y.: University of Rochester Press, 2017).
Aleksander Wat: Life and Art of an Iconoclast . New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996. 370 p.
Books in English translation
Vilnius. A Personal History . The Sheep Meadow Press, 2009, 276 p.
The Junction: Selected Poems . Edited by Ellen Hinsey. Bloodaxe Books, 2008.
Vilnius . Vilnius. R. Paknio leidykla, 2001. 216 p.
Forms of Hope: Essays . The Sheep Meadow Press, 1999 [paperback 2003], 286 p.
Winter Dialogue . Northwestern University Press, 1997 [paperback 1999], 148 p.
Books in German translation
Gespräch im Winter: Gedichte . Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2007
Vilnius. Eine Stadt in Europa . Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2006
Vilnius: Stadtfuehrer . Vilnius: R. Paknio leidykla, 2002
Guenter Grass, Czesław Miłosz, Wisława Szymborska, Tomas Venclova. Die Zukunft der Erinnerung . Goettingen: Steidl, 2001
Vor der Tuer das Ende der Welt : Gedichte. Hamburg: Rospo Verlag, 2000
Books in Russian translation
Metelinga: Стихотворения и не только / Пер. и сост. А. Герасимовой . — М.: Пробел-2000, Umka-Press, 2017.
Вильнюс: город в Европе . Пер. с лит. Марии Чепайтите. СПб. Изд-во Ивана Лимбаха, 2012
Негатив белизны. Стихи разных лет / На русском языке с параллельным литовским текстом. М.: Новое издательство, 2008
Гранёный воздух. Стихотворения . Москва: ОГИ, Дом Юргиса Балтрушайтиса, 2002
Свобода и правда . Москва: Издательская группа «Прогресс», 1999
Books in Swedish translation
Former av hopp: Essaer 1976–2001 . Kristianstad: Ariel/Ellerstroms, 2001
Samtal vintertid: Dikter 1956–2000 . Satarod/Malmo: Ariel, 2000
Books in Polish translation
Czesław Miłosz, Tomas Venclova, Powroty do Litwy. Returns to Lithuania . Warszawa: Zeszyty Literackie, 2011
Z dzienników podróży . Warszawa: Zeszyty Literackie, 2010
Opisać Wilno . Warszawa: Fundacja Zeszytów Literackich, 2006.
Niezniszczalny rytm — eseje o literaturze . Pogranicze, 2002
Wilno: Przewodnik . Vilnius: R. Paknio leidykla, 2001
Rozmowa w zimie . Warszawa: Zeszyty Literackie, 2001
Eseje . Publicystyka. Pogranicze, 2001
Aleksander Wat. Obrazoburca . Przeł. J. Goślicki. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1997
Rozmowa w zimie . Paris-Kraków: Zeszyty Literackie-Oficyna Literacka, 1991
Sześć wierszy . Lublin: Wydawnictwo FIS, 1991
Siedem wierszy . Warszawa: Wydawnictwo S, 1986
Czesław Miłosz, Tomas Venclova, Dialog o Wilnie . Warszawa: Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza, 1981
Books in Hungarian Translation
Vilnius egy város Európában (translated by Tölgyesi Beatrix). Budapest: Európa Könykviadó, 2009
Litvánok és... . Budapest: Európa Könyvkiadó, 2003
Mondjátok meg Fortinbrasnak . Budapest: Európa Könyvkiadó, 1992
Books in Ukrainian Translation
Передчуття і пророцтва Східної Європи . Дух і літера, 2016
Books in Finnish translation
Vilna: Kaupungin tarina . Tampere: Jagellonica-kulttuuriyhdistys ry, 2012
Books in Italian translation
Cinquantuno poesie e una lettera (In forma di parole , 2003, No. 1 Bologna)
Books in Chinese translation
Selected Poems . Xining: Qinghai Renmin Press, 2011
Books in Portuguese translation
Literatura lituana (Sinopse) . New York: Lithuanian National Foundation, Inc., 1979
Books in Slovenian translation
Čistost soli . Ljubljana: Društvo slovenskih pisateljev, 1991
Books in Albanian translation
Dialog ne dimer: Poezi te zgjedhura . Tirane: Aleph, 2005
References
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^ a b c "Venclova becomes honorary citizen of Vilnius". media.efhr.eu. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2015 .
^ a b "Berliner Künstlerprogramm | Biography: Venclova, Tomas". Berliner-Kuenstlerprogramm. Retrieved 1 August 2015 .
^ "Poland's Herbert Literary Award goes to Lithuanian poet". polskieradio.pl . 22 August 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023 .
External links
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Web of Stories, Tomas Venclova (video 1:11), part 1 of 88 (Lithuanian with English subtitles)
Review of The Junction
A selection of Venclova's poetry at Poetry Magazine
About Tomas Venclova: Literaturfestival Berlin and DAAD Program Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
Author's page at Bloodaxe Books: Author Page/Bloodaxe Books
A guide to the Tomas Venclova Papers at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library