Some literature in the Lithuanian language made its appearance in the 16th century as the waves of Protestantism reached the country. Religious and fictional literature made their appearance concurrently, with the first book in Lithuanian: the evangelical Lutheran Katekizmas, (Catechism) with an alphabet and songs, published in Prussia in 1547, by Martynas Mazvydas. This is how the Lithuanian language came to be written in the Latin alphabet.

During the 16th-18th centuries, Lithuanian writing gained in strength as Konstantinas Sirvydas published the first Lietuviu Kalbos Zodynas (Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language), and the Biblija (Bible) was translated into Lithuanian. At that time, the greatest consolidator of the Lithuanian language, within the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was Mikalojus Dauksa.

At the beginning of the 18th century, there was wide-spread growth in secular literature. Ezopo Pasakecios (Aesop's Fables) were translated into Lithuanian in 1706.

Kristijonas Donelaitis, who wrote in the Prussian countryside during the 18th century, was the professional initiator of Lithuanian literature. His poem, Metai (the Seasons), written in hexameters, has been translated into the principal languages of the world and acknowledged as an unparalleled masterpiece.

The development of Lithuanian literature at the start of the 20th century remains inseparable from the national self-emancipation movement of World War I and the first independence period. Literature experienced national romanticism (Maironis), symbolism (Balys Sruoga, Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas) and avant-gardism (Kazys Binkis), during that time. In addition, there was present a distinctive Lithuanian existentialism (Salomeja Neris, Antanas Kossu-Aleksandriskis, Bernardas Brazdzionis) and also existentialism, which already had voiced the tragic misgivings of Europe (Vytautas Macernis).

Prior to World War II, Lithuanian literature had already been poised to take a new creative leap, and thus it was at that point that the Soviet, and later the fascist, and later yet, another Soviet occupation, undermined it. Some writers perished; others were forced to obey the regime and later, the so-called censure of "socialist realism". A third group emigrated to the West.

In spite of this, however, genuine literature survived even under the most difficult conditions. During the first post-war years, Balys Sruoga wrote Dievu Miskas (Forest of the Gods), a realistic novel of the grotesque, concerning experiences in the Stutthof fascist concentration camp. The community of the free literati in the West provided the soil for the birth, in the US, of two particularly notable novels: Baltoji Drobule (White Sheet), by Algimantas Skema and Miskais Ateina Ruduo (Autumn Comes Through the Forests), by Marius Katiliskis. Thus, three particularly important works stand out in Lithuanian literature which have expressed the three states of the Lithuanian spirit in the 20th century: the repressed state (Dievu Miskas), the western state (Baltoji Drobule), and the nostalgic rural cultural one (Miskais Ateina Ruduo). The most significant novel of the final Soviet years is Prieausrio Vieskeliai, (Pre-Dawn Highways), by Bronius Radzevicius, which depicts the life of a member of the intelligentsia who has lost the roots of his national life.

Poetry predominates in Lithuanian literature to this day. Lithuanians have often been called a nation of poets. Poetry depicts the soul of the nation and the memory permeated with the tragedy of history. In the form of songs, it has assisted in preserving the identity of the nation after the population has moved to the cities.

For the sake of truthfulness, one must note that history has dictated the fact that there have always been, and continue to be, writers who write about Lithuania yet are not Lithuanians. During the Renaissance period there was the famous poet Sarbiewski (Sarbievius), who wrote his poetry in Latin and obtained his laurels in Rome; later, Adam Mickiewicz and Julusz Slowacki, writing in Polish, and Wladislaw Sirokomla, who wrote in Polish and Belorussian, presented a distinct vision of Lithuania to the world. Concurrently, Oscar Milosz wrote in French, using Lithuanian themes and even a Lithuanian literary style; Jurgis Baltrusaitis wrote in Russian, and Czeslaw Milosz in Polish. The latter won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature.