Playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Marius Ivaskevicius said he sees himself as a storyteller before anything else.
“I don’t think about my position as a writer,” he said. “I don’t really want to change the world. Of course, it’s good if you do change people [but] it’s not a main task for me.”
Ivaskevicius will read passages from his most recent novel, Zali (The Green), and his first play, Kalmynas (Neighbor), at 4 p.m. Sept. 6 at Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., as part of the UI International Writing Program’s Sunday Readings.
The Lithuanian said he was drawn to Iowa City by the plethora of opportunities offered through the IWP.
“Of course, you can visit [the] United States by yourself, but maybe you would never come to a university,” Ivaskevicius said.
Though best known for his work as a playwright, he has also spilled into making documentary films and writing books. Despite having worked in many different styles and genres, he said, he finds the novels most pleasurable. In fact, he is working on a science-fiction work called Covered Up — a story set in Lithuania around the year 2030. The novel follows a refugee attempting to free the country from a dome placed over the citizens because of their government’s aggressive politics.
When he begins writing, he said, he doesn’t always know how the work will turn out — for him, it’s all about telling a story.
“Sometimes, a topic comes to me, and I don’t know really what form or what genre I will choose,” Ivaskevicius said. “If it’s a film, I try to think of it from a director’s position.”
The writer said he picks the format for each story based on judgment calls that include whether he thinks the story needs a narrator or if he feels the audience needs to “see” the characters in order to get the story’s message. As for his foray into the world of science fiction, he said it’s all about pursuing new writing endeavors.
“I just have pleasure from my work,” Ivaskevicius said, “When I see something that’s touched me, something real or in my mind, I have pleasure working on it.”
