Jakubowska-Fijałkowska works with femininity, with emotion in a unique way; she shows how breaking the boundaries between the private and the public/political can still be refreshing action; it is a young voice of mature Polish feminine poetry.

Alina Świeściak

Born in 1970 in Opole. Poet, essayist, translator from French. Has a degree in Romanesque studies from the Jagiellonian University. Lives in Opole. Teaches French literature at the Teacher Training College for Foreign Languages in Opole and the University of Opole, and also conducts creative writing workshops.

Laureate of the 2004 Kościelski Award for the epic poem Dwanaście stacji (Twelve Stations) which was also nominated for the 2005 Nike Literary Award. In 2007, he was nominated for the Nike again, for his book of poetry Kolonie, which made it to the final shortlist of seven.

Kapitan X is a specific project in which the whole mastery of the poet’s recognizable creative skill and technique is visible.

Dorota Walczak-Delanois

Finalist of the Jacek Bierezin National Poetry Contest. Published in Odra, Autograf, Obrzeża, Nowa Okolica Poetów, Cegła, Szafa, Truml, Arterie, Arkadia, and Dyskurs. Laureate of more than a dozen national poetry contests. Her debut book of poems, Człap story, came out in January 2005. In 2010, two more were issued: Jeszcze się tu pokręcę (nominated for the Nike Literary Award) by Instytut Mikołowski and Proszę nie płakać by SAPiK in Szczecinek (the publication was the main prize in the national poetry contest Painting with Words).

September 2015 saw the publication of her fourth volume of poetry, Gustaw znikąd, issued by Zaułek Wydawniczy ‘Pomyłka’ in Szczecin. In November 2015 Mirka Szychowiak had her debut as a prose writer with Gniazdozbiór (ME-KOMP). Another book of poetry came out in 2016 – Jakie to życie jest krępujące (Fundacja Duży Format Warszawa), followed by the sixth in 2018, Trzeci migdał, published by wydawnictwo j. Finalist of the International Short Story Festival in Wrocław. Her texts have been included in the anthology of Lower Silesian Literature, Rozkład jazdy, and also in Warkoczami. Antologia nowej poezji. In September 2020, Mirka Szychowiak’s poems in Ukrainian translation were included in Nielegalny prąd. Antologia wierszy wrocławskich i podwrocławskich w wyborze Jacka Bieruta. Her works have also been translated into Italian and English: in the bilingual anthology Free over Blood published in 2011 by Off_Press, in Zeszyty Poetyckie, and in the European Literature Network. In 2018, the monthly Novaya Polsha published some of her poems in Russian translation.

Her micro-world is replete with unusual characters. Mirka Szychowiak honours each one of them. She writes about people, animals, and plants with tenderness and humility.

Karol Maliszewski

Born in 1978. Botanist, poet, and video artist. Assistant Professor at the Autonomous Department of Forest Botany, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW). Her video project Metamorphosis of Plants (2016), inspired by J. W. Goethe’s work of the same title, won the SCINEMA International Science Film Festival in the best experimental/animation category. Her debut in poetry, Atomy, was nominated for Wrocław’s Silesius Poetry Award (2015) and received a commendation in the 11th National Literary Competition ‘The Golden Mean of Poetry’ (2015) for the year’s best poetic debut. In 2017, she received the Kościelski Award for another book of poems, minimum. In 2019, she published a book of essays, Patyki, badyle (Gdynia Literary Award). Her third book of poetry, Piach, came out in late 2020.

What I appreciate in Piach is the purity of message and at the same time a diction that is far from banality.

Dorota Walczak-Delanois