Patricija Gudeikaitė
- Lithuania -
Patricija Gudeikaitė (born 1998) - poet of the younger generation, organiser of literary events. She was awarded the Antanas A. Jonynas Prize at the 2020 Druskininkai Poetic Fall festival, winner of "Free Microfon" readings at the Kaunas Literary Week. Her poems have been included in the Poetry Spring and Druskininkai Poetic Fall anthologies, translated into English, Polish and Italian languages. Her poetic works have been published in "Šiaurės Atėnai", "Literatura ir menas", "Nemunas", the literary platform "Urban Poetry", etc. She also writes literary criticism. Lives in Kaunas.
When Patricija Gudeikaitė (b. 1998) reads her poetry, she does it slowly, with steady emphasis and carefully placed pauses. Her brief poems are tightly packed, highlighting the significance of each word. Hers is a dark poetry, reawakening demons that have nothing in common in terms of nationality or historical period. Before publishing her first poetry book Kontaktas (“Contact,” 2023), the poet had already made a name for herself in Lithuanian poetry festivals, while her debut secured Gudeikaitė the Bag of Žemaitė Prize, an award reserved for women with significant contributions to Lithuanian poetry.
Gudeikaitė’s debut comes at a favorable time, as we’re becoming more aware of themes surrounding mental issues and less ignorant of poetry that openly discusses pain. The relationship between mental illness and writing seems to have changed, too. Gone are the times when psychological issues were considered to be an edgy alternative to the usual creative process or a motive that only serves to excite the imagination. It’s increasingly more often the case that mental illness is merely a fact of the writer’s biography and thus naturally becomes a unique aspect of their work. Kontaktas is an indirect narrative of Gudeikaitė’s own experience of living with a schizoaffective disorder. The book’s cover is the portrait of a screaming Muhammad Ali, while the flyleaf is adorned with an image of protective film used to secure fragile items. Evidently, we’re dealing with the poetry of someone who has overcome hardship. Even though writing is an attempt to vanquish one’s inner demons, it does not directly reference the poet’s biography, thus emphasizing the creative potential of such an act.
Gudeikaitė conveys the drama of a mind faced with liminal experiences. These poems are written in cycles constructed as choruses within a consciousness “in contact.” When the ego is silent, the subject converses with the dead. Gudeikaitė presents a surprisingly wide spectrum of persons (including Frida Kahlo, Fernando Pessoa, Henry Darger) and their experiences. They seem to be united by and interesting because of their fierce character and unconventional relationship with society. Each text voices a different individual, while the imageries offer unexpected analogies with various cultural phenomena. Therefore, the scope of this poetry goes beyond the limits of psychological problems or emotional well-being.
In the sphere of Lithuanian poetry, Gudeikaitė’s texts occupy a space between confessional poetry and the classical poesis docta. This is determined by the author’s view of literature and the tools she utilizes in writing. For the poet, creative writing is not only a form of self-expression coinciding with therapeutic admissions of trauma, but also a public dialogue that requires responsible engagement. Gudeikaitė makes good use of her understanding of global cultural contexts (an uncommon trait among debutants), yet she also describes difficult processes through dissociation. In other words, for phenomena which cannot be described easily, she utilizes various cultural masks as expressions of her alter ego. Therefore, it’s no wonder that “Contact” is a meeting place for madmen, saints, fringe personalities, and cultural icons. Gudeikaitė’s poetic world is very tolerant of the Other, be it in terms of nationality, race, or gender, precisely because there is no Other. Yet herein lies the contradiction, as this poetic context serves to further solidify the sensation of existing beyond norms.
These poems require attentive reading and cooperation. Most elusive is Gudeikaitė’s personal speech, which is devoid of emotion. The style she chooses is rational and concise, even restrained; when coupled with vivid and contradictory imagery, the poetic effect is not unlike a dissection, where contact is established through transgression. And when contact is made, each poem talks of brutality, cause, and consequence. For such laconic poems, they contain an astounding number of phases that the subjects are forced to go through: for them, it’s never a choice of “either-or,” but always “and-and.” In these descriptions of mental processes, there seems to be a surprisingly small level of freedom.
While reading for some can be a form of escapism, Gudeikaitė’s poetry attests to the dangers that such escapism entails. A fragile mind is forced to exist in a phantasmal world with a panopticon of its own making. In this world, one must always be vigilant – because if you’re not in control, then someone, or something, is controlling you. All of this can be reflected in the real world, which the poet describes without scruples. Patricija Gudeikaitė’s poetry is a painful reminder that there is a tension between the phantasm of the psyche and the real world as we know it.
Written by Neringa Butnoriūtė
Translated by Markas Aurelijus Piesinas
Poetry
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hell rides / hell rides
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Heteronyms, to Fernando Pessoa / Heteronimai, Fernandui Pessoa
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black hole: automatic writing / juodoji skylė: automatinis rašymas
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Henry Darger / Henry Darger
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Hierophanies / Hierofanijos
