Meeting with Juozas Šalkauskas

Juozas Šalkauskas is a legendary LRT radio announcer, press commentator, journalist, photographer and one of the most famous and active readers of Lithuanian poetry. His deep, mesmerizing voice and impeccable pronunciation have become an integral part of the country's cultural life for several decades. J. Šalkauskas often emphasizes the importance of the printed word and live poetry reading in the modern world of enormous information, arguing that it is necessary to constantly nurture the love of language and literature. He actively travels around the country's libraries, cultural centers and schools, where he organizes author's program afternoons, reads verses by Lithuanian classics and contemporary authors.

This year, on June 12, Lithuanian Radio turned 100… 44 years old – the voice of Juozas Šalkauskas also sounded through it. For almost that many years, he hosted the republican song and dance festivals. We also hear Juozas’ voice at dance competitions held in Lithuania, as well as at many other events and entertainment gatherings. A good number of his audio books over the past four decades have been listened to by the blind.

For his exceptional language culture and correct word distribution on the radio and on stage, he was awarded the title of "Language Nugget" by the LRT. J. Šalkauskas is a laureate of the "Poetry Spring" readers' awards, Antanas Macijauskas, Petras Babickas, and Vytautas Gudelis. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Gediminas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Olympic Star of the Lithuanian Olympic Committee, and the Cross of Sports Honor of the Lithuanian National Sports Council.

Juozas Šalkauskas claims that throughout his life he has only worked on jobs that he likes. Another of his favorite activities is photography. Having tried photography in his childhood, he is no different with his camera even now. The honorary member of the Lithuanian Union of Photographers has captured his colleagues, immortalized Lithuanian athletes at the Olympic Games, moments of exotic travels and poets at the events of "Poetry Spring". Fellow poets are captured in the photography exhibition "Touched by the Muse".

Another passion of J. Šalkauskas is collecting. Among the several types of collecting that Juozas does is collecting ties. He is most interested in commemorative, departmental, and non-traditional ties, of which he has already accumulated over 2,200. Since 2013, exhibitions of his collection have been held in many Lithuanian cities. The exhibition “Art and Music Ties” coming to Mažeikiai is the 50th anniversary.

We invite you to a meeting with Juozas Šalkauskas at the Mažeikiai Henrikas Nagys Public Library on October 27, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.: listen to poems by Lithuanian literary classics, get to know the poets at the photography exhibition "Touched by the Muse", and admire the impressive collection of ties.