VILNIUS 700: VOICES PAST AND PRESENT

As part of a year-long series of Vilnius 700 celebrations worldwide, on October 19th the Consulate General of Lithuania in Chicago partnered with the Chicago YIVO Society to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the City of Vilnius, with an evening of poetry and talks by invited speakers. Conceived in the style of a literary salon of the 19th century, the event featured presentations by authors Laimonas Briedis, Julija Šukys, and Ken Krimstein. Poetry readings by actress Audrė Budrys Nakas and Prof. Karen Underhill highlighted the multilingual cultural history of Vilnius/Vilna/Wilno, featuring the poetry of Judita Vaičiūnaitė, Avrom Sutzkever, and Czesław Miłosz, read in Lithuanian, Yiddish and Polish. Organized by Ieva Dilytė and Professor Underhill (Dept of Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian Studies, UIC), the evening concluded with remarks from the Consul General of Lithuania in Chicago, Sigrida Mulevičienė, and musical performance by violin and piano duo Alex Koffman and Gail Mangurten.