Photo by Eugenijus Ostašenkovas

Gintarė Adomaitytė (b. 1957) worked in journalism for twenty years but quit in 2008 as she felt she wanted to do something freer and more independent. She has been active as a freelance author for twenty years now, writing for both children and adults. Her creative range is impressive – fairy tales, novellas, essays, book reviews and literary criticism. Gintarė’s work is beautiful in its words and meanings. She is the creator of a bright world, seeking beauty and harmony in her works. Although she has mostly written lyrical allegorical fairy tales, she considers her best book to be the realist young adult novella, Laumžirgių namai (Dragonfly Home). She has published essays about both Lithuanian and foreign children’s writers. Gintarė writes about the authors whose works helped her become herself. Although she loves Vilnius and her native Kaunas, she has now been calling Ignalina her home for several years. She chose this place for its forests, quiet, stillness, fresh air and a slower kind of lifestyle. 

Laumžirgių namai (Dragonfly Home), illustrated by Andrius Repšys. Vilnius: Agora, 2001, 96 pp.    

Written in a characterful, immersive style, the young adult novella features elements of a detective story and mystery. Fourteen-year-old Miglė’s mother is treated at a mental institution. Miglė never knew her father. She lives with her aunt and cousin, in a mysterious house by the lake. People don’t come near the house for fear of seeing the ghost of its former owner. One morning, a little girl shows up at the house, who probably belongs to the same family. Later, the dead body of Miglė’s father, who was on his way see her, and who is referred to as Rain Man, is found nearby… But the author cares not so much about secrets and solving crimes as about exploring the feelings of the characters and the way they act in various situations and turns of life. Dragonfly Home was acknowledged as the best young adult book in 2001.