Conversation with Giedrė Kazlauskaitė about life and other things 0

Jurga Tumasonytė
www.kamane.lt, 2015-03-27
Giedrė Kazlauskaitė. A. Kisarauskaitė photo

In brief: I was in my late teens when I first learned about Giedrė Kazlauskaitė - one friend of mine had fallen in love with her because of her texts in "Šiaurės Atėnai" and dreamed  of talking to her if he ever saw her live (he never did). Subsequently, our paths diverged and G. Kazlauskaitė published two poetry books, received awards and became the editor of "Šiaurės Atėnai." While I exceeded my friend for dozens of times already, this is the first time I am talking so much and so publicly with G. Kazlauskaitė.

Poet avoids publicity, does not like giving interviews or practice self-promotion, but she is very open in her texts. I wondered if she ever worried that her relatives would read those intimate texts. Giedrė Kazklauskaitė says, she does not like to give interviews, because she tries to view it through the eyes of readers. “This genre is not that attractive to me - usually interviewees do not say anything interesting and that disappoints. Or they reveal too much of an attitude. And I was writing my book specifically for my relatives (I still doubt they have read it). I always seek real projections, although we have been taught so much that it is evil."

Does it happen so that after meeting an artist you realize you cannot view his/her art in the same way anymore? Giedrė kazlauskaitė says that she avoids meeting not only artists but new people in general "people I know already are enough. Acquaintance is always disastrous in a way that you will not be able to write their book, film or theatre performance reviews anymore. Relationship with people is ever changing, but you often learn to forgive many things.”

Giedrė Kazlauskaitė has recently received Jurga Ivanauskaitė Prize and I wondered whether this author has been among writer's favorites while growing up; and what other of those favorites were. Giedrė Kazlauskaitė says that "nothing special. Like all the teenagers of the time I read Salinger, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Škėma, Gavelis, Ivanauskaitė. Libraries did not have much to choose from. I would not fall in love with writers, never identified myself with them and generally, did not think of them as real people. Information on Jurga Ivanauskaitė would reach me through media. She was kind of bound to become a teenage icon. However, I would have not dared to look for any real relationship, to meet her or be interested in her life.”

In the interview given around 2007 Giedrė Kazlauskaitė claimed that artists are egoists and cannot be with the family. I wondered whether she still thinks like that after becoming a mother. "Similarly, I still think so and now I even have proof. However, I feel much happier than in 2007. I think it saved me, at least for some time, from alcoholism and suicide."


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