A poetess of youthful reveries : Kotryna Grigaitytė

Kotryna Grigaitytė spent her most beautiful years in Lithuania. Since 1928 she started publishing her works in the Lithuanian Catholic press. Juozas Ambrazevičius, Antanas Miškinis, and later Nijolė Mazalaitė, Paulius Jurkus, Bernardas Brazdžionis, and Leonardas Andriekus had encouraged her to take up writing. Her first book of poetry Akys pro vėduoklę (Eyes Through the Fan) reveals a youthful playfulness and even a manifestation of feminism. A young rebellious girl yearns for novelty and change; she takes the lead from the man, or on the contrary, demonstrates exceptional femininity. Elements of folklore and pastiche are also apparent. The poetess wants to remain forever young, she wants to love and be loved, yet independent. In emigration the mood and the themes change. The fate of an immigrant calls for other themes: longing for the homeland, guilt, and a close relationship with religion. Many poems are dedicated to particular people, time and poetry itself. After twelve years of silence she published the collections of poems Marių vėjui skambant (When Sea Wind Rings) and Tylos dovana (Gift of Silence). They are more mature, reflecting the sense of passing time. In her short stories and the novel the writer focuses on the main idea rather than the characters. An important place is given to the relationship between two people. She speaks about the inner world, yet she does not forget man’s social position, beauty and others topics. The spatial contrasts of town-country and own-strange become stronger. Not able to return to her fatherland, Grigaitytė tried to reach Lithuania with her creative heritage. To preserve her creative work for her meant to live forever