Vilniaus lapai: Evening with Kristina Sabaliauskaitė

Kristina Sabaliauskaitė is a Lithuanian author whose bestsellers have been popular for over a decade since her successful debut with her historical novel “Silva Rerum” in 2008. The author's name is also associated with the spectacular renewal of the Lithuanian historical novel genre and the revival of the great interest in Lithuanian literature.

Kristina is an art historian and has a PhD in art criticism. Her tetralogy of historical novels (2008–2016) has earned her wide public acclaim, numerous reprints, recognition and success in Lithuania and its neighbouring countries, as well as Jurga Ivanauskaitė Literary Award (2008), nomination of the Book of the Year (2009, 2011, “Silva Rerum II” was nominated by the readers as the Book of the Year in 2011), Liudas Dovydėnas Literary Award (2015), Medal of the Order for Merits to Lithuania (2017), and other reputable awards. In Poland, her novel “Silva Rerum I” was shortlisted for the final of Angelus, a prestigious Central European Literary prize, in 2016. The writer was a real success in other literary genres as well. Her collection of short stories “Daniel Crowbar & other stories”, published in 2012, became a bestseller.

Kristina Sabaliauskaitė’s latest historical novel “Peter’s Empress” (2019) is a forceful text about the clash of Eastern and Western cultures and mentalities, based on historical sources. While telling a story about one marriage, she tells about time and coercion, various human addictions, characters who break into pieces and become whole again, about historical violence and mesmerising visions of the future.