On borders, war and love in the prose of Birutė Jonuškaitė

Abstract

Birutė Jonuškaitė, a Lithuanian writer born and raised in Sejny/Seinai [Polish/Lithuanian] County, Poland, became one of the most consistent storytellers of genuine cross-national relations in Lithuanian literature. In all her novels, the writer, who settled in Vilnius after her studies at Vilnius University, tells stories about the life of the Lithuanian diaspora in Poland, and in her latest novels, Maranta (2015) and Maestro (2019), she brings to life a literary epic about the historical relations between Lithuanian, Polish, Jewish and French families. These relations burgeon at the beginning of the century in the province of Lithuania where the borders of several countries converge, to unfold over the coming decades across the thoroughfares and capitals of Europe and the world. Separated by the vicissitudes of war and history, whole families and individuals alike find each other because in response to the call of human warmth and love.