Photo by Gediminas Kajėnas

The creative works of the poet Jurgita Jasponytė (b. 1981) combine symbols of ethnic culture with the experiences of a woman, a mother going through contemporary challenges. Her first collection of poems, Šaltupė (2014), won the prestigious Zigmas Gėlė Prize for best debut poetry. Jasponytė obtained her master’s degree in literature from Vilnius University and is currently working in one of Vilnius’ libraries. The poet is a very original reciter of poetry, imbuing her poems with the tones of folklore songs. Jasponytė’s works have been translated into English, German, Latvian, Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. 

The poems from her latest book, Vartai Auštrieji (The Sharp Gates of Dawn, 2019), are also inspired by the cultural memory and contemporary experiences residing in folklore. Vilnius is depicted as a second homeland (the poet comes from Zarasai) that shapes the poet’s identity. The importance of the city is demonstrated in the title of the collection: Vartai Auštrieji refers to the Aušros Gate, a part of Vilnius’ defensive wall that once marked the capital’s borders. The decision to merge two names of the city’s gate, the archaic one (Aštrieji – the Sharp Gate), and the current one (Aušros – the Gate of Dawn) becomes a symbolic gesture, representing a harmonious interaction between the past and the present. Ideas of deep-rootedness, constant change (birth, giving birth, maturity, ageing and death) become keywords. They are replaced by the archetypal image of the river, symbolizing both temporariness and eternity.

Translations on-line: https://www.lyrikline.org/en/authors/jurgita-jasponyt