On May 3rd a meeting with the Lithuanian writer Antanas Šileika, who lives in Canada, took place in the library-museum of President Valdas Adamkus. At the event, his memoir “The Barefoot Bingo Caller”, published in Lithuanian, was presented.

Antanas Šileika is the author of five books, four of his books – the novels “Bronze Woman”, “Underground” and the book of short stories “Buying on Time”, memoirs “The Barefoot Bingo Caller” – have been translated into Lithuanian. A. Šileika wrote all his books in English, they were first published in Canada, appreciated by local critics and readers.

Speaking about the topics of his books, the author says: “I never believed that I would write about Lithuanian topics. The road to them was winding, and I realized that this is all I can write about. All my novels are inspired and set in Lithuania, which seemed to me to reflect the whole world. I am an emigrant of imagination”, said A. Šileika. In frequent interviews and conversations, the writer born and living in Canada talks about his changing identity, the Lithuanian plots and contexts of his work.

In his memoir “The Barefoot Bingo Speaker”, Antanas Šileika pieces together a mosaic of his memoirs, in which he remembers his childhood, the troubles of Lithuanian settlement in Canada, his youth and study years, journalistic and academic work with humor. However, many stories in the book are connected by a Lithuanian thread. These are short-tempered and at the same time wise stories about identity, emigration, constant search for home, vocation, work, family and art.