poet, essayist, translator, one of the most famous Lithuanian prose writers after the regaining of Lithuania's independence.
J. Kunčinas at Vilnius University 1964-1968. studied German philology. His first publication appeared in 1968. He has written literary criticism, satires, essays, radio plays, and film scripts. He published essays in the newspapers Lietuvos Aidas, Valstiečių laikraštis, and Šiaurės Atėnai.
J. Kunčinas was a member of the Lithuanian Writers' Union (since 1989), a member of the PEN Center (since 1995). His best-known novel is Tula (1993). For this novel, in 1993, J. Kunčin awarded the Lithuanian Writers' Union prize for the best book of the year. He has also received Nemunas magazine prizes for poetry (1972) and prose (1994), Alytus City Culture Prize (1996), Vilnius City Literary Prize (1996 for the book of short stories "Good Day, Mr. Enrique!").
J. Kunčins' works have been translated into English, Russian, Latvian, Swedish, Estonian, Polish, Belarusian and German ("Blanchisserie, or Žvērynas-Užupis", "Kilnojamosios Röntgens statys").
