Photo by M. Penkutė

The poet Indrė Valantinaitė (b. 1984) made her debut in 2006 with a collection of poems Žuvim ir lelijom (For Fish and Lilies). She obtained a degree in cultural management and has worked as a journalist. The poet is also well known in the music scene: she has won several music competitions and performed in the rock operas Saulės žemė (The Land of the Sun) and Ugnies medžioklė su varovais (Fire Hunt with Beaters). Valantinaitė is an outstanding reader, participating regularly in various literary festivals. She has written four award-winning collections of poems which have been translated into thirteen languages. 

Valantinaitė’s poems can be described as poetic minimalism – short phrases, subtle sound, and suggestive images. Her early collections focus on ambivalent femininity. The title of her debut collection, For Fish and Lilies, brings together the images of chthonic fish residing in the depths of the water with the lilies, which are traditionally regarded as a sacral symbol, representing the spiritual tensions of a young woman. This is the subject of Valantinaitė’s poems: sensual, enjoying herself in the pleasures of life, but also ironic, nursing an indescribable underlying longing for sacrality. 

In her latest collection, Apsisiautusios saule (Wrapped in the Sun, 2020), the ironic register is replaced by subtle symbolism and religious motifs – the first and last chapters open with quotations from The Song of Songs. Reflecting on the title of the collection, the poet asserts that her intention has been to reveal the sacred nature of the spiritual connection between a man and a woman. 

Translations on-line:  www.lyrikline.org/en/authors/indr-valantinait