Jaroslavas Melnikas, award winning author of 'The Last Day' launched the collection of stories at this year's Lowdham Book Festival.
To a large audience, Melnikas spoke about the genesis of his stories and particularly how he came to write in Lithuanian, having gone to live in Lithuania when he met his wife.
Melnikas told of how one critic called him ironically, 'The Son of Stalin'. In some ways, he explained, that was true. His parents were both exiled to Siberia during the repressive Soviet crack down on nationalists in the Ukraine after the Second World War. It was in the gulag that his parents met. Fatefully, if Stalin had not exiled them, Melnikas may not have come into the world. Fate places an important role in his writing.