Lithuanian poet Marcelius Matinaitis shared the stage with his fellow poet and one-time student Laima Vince Sruoginis, who also acted as translator

Laima read first from her own English language collection "Book of Portraits" in which she explores aspects of female identity. She refers to them as "persona" poems each inspired by a particular painting or sculpture.

Taking us inside the artwork, the poet imagines the multiple personalities of the sitter and the female audience that it reflects. All kinds of women are paraded here, particularly the mad, sorrowful and exploited and these poems catalogue moments in which women can be defined but never "captured".

For me the most moving poem was the last one about her Lithuanian boarding school in Germany. In touching detail she describes the shared rigours and intimacies of the early morning washroom. In a return visit years later, the washroom she had shared with her classmates had been refurbished and no trace was left of those warm memories.

Matinaitis then read in his own language from two of his well-known books that feature characters whom he names Kukatis and KB. Using simple almost childlike folktale elements, he builds up stories around these characters that obliquely mock the establishment.

As a poet working in times of Soviet control, Matinaitis courageously found ways to subvert Soviet ideology without attracting the attention of the censors.

His apparently simple poems have a dark undertow and are full of paradox and double-speak, paranoia and identity crises. Some of them are very funny and a memorable moment is when his "double" KB, following the fall of Soviet domination, writes advertising copy for toothpaste. He has been marked by his past to such an extent that he can only write in absurdisms - that cleaning one's teeth is a good opportunity to stand still and look in the mirror - nothing bad can happen to you while you are doing that. So Colgate equals safety!

A more serious KB poem describes special powers of hearing what others can't hear. In this case the haunting sound of babies crying from every part of the city; they are the cries of the unborn. Martinaitis commented, " It is much worse to be unborn than to die."

Listening to a poet reading in his own language is a potent experience even for those who understand nothing of it. We were privileged to have this pair of poets working so well together and presenting a seamless transition from Lithuanian to English. A very special event.

Sally Givertz