Literature
Czytaj
Fiction
A Fragile Autumn and Restless Hummingbirds
Reading / literature
In this excerpt from Czech writer Radka Denemarková’s novel “A Contribution to the History of Joy”, we join a policeman as he investigates the scene of the death of a wealthy businessman in Prague. The facts suggest a suicide, but not all is as it seems...
Czytaj
Non-Fiction
What Lies Under the Water?
Reading / literature
In this unpublished extract from Katarzyna Boni’s “Ganbare! Workshop of Dying”, we join two men in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefercture on the day the 2011 earthquake and tsunami struck the town.
Czytaj
Non-Fiction
Winter Camp
Reading / literature
In this extract from Tania Skarynkina’s “A Large Czesław Miłosz With A Dash of Elvis Presley”, the writer remembers a childhood trip from Belarus to the Artek holiday camp in Crimea.
Czytaj
The Art of Translation with Jim Dingley
The Art of Translation with Jim Dingley
The Valdemar Questionnaire
Reading / literature
Jim Dingley speaks with Valdemar about his favourite contemporary Belarusian authors, wrestling (with words), and his latest translation of Tania Skarynkina’s “A Large Czesław Miłosz With a Dash of Elvis Presley”.
Most popular
- Czytaj
The Hunt
Literature - Czytaj
When They Come in Our Dreams
Literature - Czytaj
Four Fine Fellows
Literature - Czytaj
What Lies Under the Water?
Literature - Czytaj
Could Have
Literature
Czytaj
short story
Four Fine Fellows
Reading / literature
In this short story based on true events that took place in Kielce in 1946, we join a militiaman, a baker, a cobbler and a caretaker in a pub, as they talk about honesty.
Czytaj
Poematic
Magnet
Reading / literature
“They didn’t live together, which meant / they had two fridges for their growing collection / of magnets.” A poem by a contemporary Polish poet.
Czytaj
short story
Eleos
Reading / literature
One day, Jan Radecki, a doctoral student in neuroscience, discovers the opportunity to apply for a grant from the Ministry of War for an ambitious project involving mirror neurons. Will his project get the funding? And is the project itself ethical?
Czytaj
short story
His Majesty the King of Cats
Reading / literature
What is happiness? In this short story, a film critic searches for the answer to this evergreen question while recounting an anecdote about an Oscar-winning Polish director who seems very familiar...
Czytaj
Poematic
Two Poems
Reading / literature
“You impregnated me and I gave birth to pearls. / Authentic. Look.” Two poems by Anna Świrszczyńska (Anna Swir) about an older woman’s Eros.
Czytaj
Julia
Fiedorczuk
Fiedorczuk
An Introduction to Anna Świrszczyńska’s Two Poems
Reading / literature
The poetry of Anna Świrszczyńska – who practiced her art in communist Poland – is all the more remarkable for its unabashed and serious representation of femininity.
Czytaj
Fiction
Accommodations
Reading / literature
In this excerpt from an autobiographical novel by Wioletta Greg, we time-travel to Poland in the 1990s, where the book’s protagonist finds herself once again homeless and despairing in the streets of Częstochowa on New Year’s Eve.
Czytaj
The Art of Translation with Jennifer Croft
The Art of Translation with Jennifer Croft
The Valdemar Questionnaire
Reading / literature
Jennifer Croft speaks with Valdemar about dancing, her upcoming translation of Olga Tokarczuk’s “Books of Jacob”, and Wioletta Greg’s ability to make poetry out of everyday life.
Czytaj
short story
When They Come in Our Dreams
Reading / literature
Sometimes the dreams in which we find ourselves are more vivid than the realities from which we have just arrived… A short story from one of Poland’s finest writers of the form.
Czytaj
The Art of Translation with Anna Zaranko
The Art of Translation with Anna Zaranko
The Valdemar Questionnaire
Reading / literature
Anna Zaranko speaks with Valdemar about the prescience of Kornel Filipowicz, her upcoming project, and when translation becomes like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
Czytaj
Non-Fiction
Tell Them That We Are Starving
Reading / literature
In this unpublished translation from Mirosław Wlekły’s “Gareth Jones: The Man Who Knew Too Much”, the journalist recounts his conservations with communists and peasants as he heads from Moscow to Soviet Ukraine.
Czytaj
deep soundings
in this light
Reading / literature
“...a painter provides a season, / a setting, and an oil-thick frame of mind.” A poem by an American great.
Czytaj
Julia
Fiedorczuk
Fiedorczuk
An Introduction to Evie Shockley’s “in this light”
Reading / literature
Evie Shockley’s poem “in this light” tackles three Impressionist paintings in a way that shows the poet’s incredible synesthetic imagination.
Czytaj
short story
Medulla
Reading / literature
A short story involving a hip café, heartache, and large lush plants, written by one of our regular contributors.
Czytaj
short story
Ginkgo
Reading / literature
Haunted by its dreams, a young child is taken to the Ginkgo, where a wise teacher awaits it… A short story set after the Anthropocene epoch, on a green hill beyond the rusty mountains.
