The Lithuanian Writers’ Association: Seven Decades of History

A new Board of Directors was elected on September 6, 1958 in a meeting held in Brooklyn, NY. Juozas Tysliava, a writer who had come to the US in 1932, well before WWII, became the president. Pranas Naujokaitis was named the first vice-president for Lithuanian affairs, Algirdas Landsbergis – the second vice-president for contacts with the writers of other nations. Paulius Jurkus assumed the position of secretary and Stepas Zobarskas – of treasurer. Leonardas Žitkevičius and Kotryna Grigaitytė-Graudienė were also members of the board.

LWA activities followed the customary path under the leadership of Tysliava: board meetings were held, annual awards were presented for the best work of Lithuanian fiction of the year, and literary events were organized. During Tysliava’s presidency, an annual membership fee of $3.00 was required for joining the organization and maintaining active membership.

From its very first days in America, the Board of Directors had to deal with monetary difficulties, especially when seeking to fund its annual literary award. Tysliava’s board faced the same financial issues. But in 1960, good fortune helped the Association. It received an unexpected offer from the Organizing Committee of the VI Canadian Lithuanian Days in Hamilton to cover the entire $500.00 amount of the award.

The literary award for the best book of 1959, funded by Canadian Lithuanians, was awarded to Vladas Šlaitas for his collection of poems Ant saulėgrąžos vamzdžio (On a Sunflower Reed), in which “the poet conveys the daily existence of a creator through the use of graceful, subtle, and simple language.” (The entire book can be found here: http://www.epaveldas.lt/vbspi/biRecord.do?biRecordId=122796) This was one of the few occasions when the award was given to a Lithuanian writer living outside the US, as Šlaitas resided in England. Other contenders for that year’s award were Algimantas Mackus and Albinas Baranauskas.

The Association, under Tysliava’s leadership, had intended to print at least one publication, but these plans never materialized. Anthony F. Skirius, publisher of the monthly magazine Lithuanian Days in Los Angeles, CA, very clearly indicated the main obstacle to realizing this plan. In his letter to the vice-president of the Association, he writes: “. . . being well acquainted with the current publishing conditions, this is what I must report. There are no resources to publish a new book.”

After the sudden death of Tysliava on November 11, 1961, vice-president Pranas Naujokaitis assumed the duties of president.

The new chairman had to shoulder not only the on-going business of the organization, but also preparations for up-coming general elections and the selection of recipients of the literature awards of 1960 and 1961. In his letter to Brazdžionis, Naujokaitis asks the Lithuanian writers of Los Angeles not to withdraw their promise to form a new board of directors and personally appeals to the poet to take initiative to organize a review committee from local Lithuanians.

Failing to secure funds for the literature award from larger patrons and Lithuanian organizations and having very little in its treasury (the Review Committee found only $7.48 in the LWA’s treasury on May 25, 1962), the chairman wrote to 50 people, inviting each to donate $20.00. In his letter he writes: “… At this time, circumstances are such that the LWA award for 1960 has not yet been awarded, and it’s already time for the award of 1961. However, we have no money for either one. … The only solution left to us is to divide the burden among a greater number of people.”

The efforts by Naujokaitis and his board paid off. On April 29, 1962, Pulgis Andriušis and Leonardas Andriekus were presented with the LWA’s literary award for the years 1960 and 1961 (respectively). The event took place at the parish of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brooklyn, NY.