AUTHORS

INTERNATIONAL WRITERS' VOICES

Raman Abramchuk

Raman Abramchuk was born in Minsk in 1981. He graduated from the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts. As a Belarusian-speaking writer Raman has been publishing his essays, poems, and travel notes in the main Belarusian media outlets. In 2021-2022, some of his literary works were selected for translation and publishing in anthologies dedicated to the protests and repressions in Belarus. Since 2021, Raman lives in Warsaw.

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Valancina Aksak

Valancina Aksak was born in the village of Smaličy, the Niaśviž Rajon [District]. Lives in Minsk. She has a diploma in history, an experienced journalist. She has published the books of poetry: „Cemetery“, „Chapel“, „Ancient Rain“, „Wine From California“, „Ružoŭnica“, „Wild Plum“, „Wrapped Paradise“, „Coffee In The Eagle’s Nest“, „Third Eden“. Her poems have been published in translations into Swedish, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, French, Ukrainian, and English.

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Kaciaryna Andrejeva

Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachváłava) is a Belarusan journalist; in 2020, she was recognized a political prisoner. Kaciaryna was born in Minsk in 1993 in the family of journalists, historians, and philologists.
As a journalist, she started her work in 2014. From 2015 to 2017, she worked as a journalist of the Belarusan service of Radio Liberty, since 2017 — as a correspondent of the Belarusan-language independent television channel “Belsat”. Her materials were published in Ukrainian, Russian, and other foreign mass media.

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Arciom Arašonak

Arciom Arašonak is a Belarusian writer, translator. Born in 1981 in Viciebsk. Graduated from Viciebsk State University named after P. M. Masherov; specializes in the German and English languages. Studied under the Belarusian translator Uḷadzimir Papkovič. Author of the books „Senryū“ and „Days Without You“.

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Maryna Bandarenka

Maryna Bandarenka is an aspiring writer. Born and raised in Minsk, Belarus. In 2021, she moved to Gdańsk, Poland.

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Nataliya Belchenko

Nataliya Belchenko was born in 1973 in Kyiv. Ukrainian poetess, translator (Ukrainian, Polish, Belarusian and Russian). Worked in the Institute of Linguistics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine named after O. O. Potebnia. Graduated with honors from the Department of Philology of the Kyiv National University named after Taras Shevchenko. Has scientific publications on mythopoetics. Member of the Ukrainian PEN.

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Aleś Bialacki

Aleś Bialacki is a Belarusan human rights defender, public figure, head and founder of the Human Rights Defending Center „Viasna“ (“Spring”), the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2022, a political prisoner. He was detained in July, 2021, according to criminal charges. On March 3, 2023 Aleś Bialacki received 10 years in a medium-security penal colony.

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Vika Biran

Vika Biran is a publicist, project manager and researcher. She was born in 1990 in Pinsk, Belarus. From 2010 to 2016, she collaborated with the Belarus Free Theatre as an actress. In 2014, together with a group of like-minded people, she launched MAKEOUT, a project about the lives of LGBTIQ+ people in Belarus. Vika currently lives in Berlin and studies cultural studies at Europa University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). She is a project manager at Unit, a network of journalists and activists working on LGBTIQ+ topics in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus.

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Morti Black

Morti Black (Olesya Sach) was born in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
She took part in various artistic initiatives, including a protesting format – such as events/actions of the Kharkiv art community “Literary Slam” and “Speech’KI”. In the autumn of 2022, she herself published her first collection of poems „Magic is returning to the city“.

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Oleksandr Boboshko

Oleksandr Boboshko was born in Kharkiv on February 18th, 1971. The author of eleven poetry collections published from 2005 to 2020. Member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine. Winner of the Panteleimon Kulish Literary Award (2020). Winner of the Grand Prix of the international literary festival „Just like that“ (2007). Graduate and laureate of the O. Maselskyi competition (2013, 2015). The author of lyrics of a number of songs.

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Kateryna Derysheva

Kateryna Derysheva is a poet, co-founder and organizer of the kntxt literary project. Born in 1994 in Melitopol (Ukraine)

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Nadiya Havryliuk

Nadiya Havryliuk is a poet, theorist of literature, candidate of philological sciences, senior researcher of the Institute of Literature named after T. H. Shevchenko of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, laureate of the Oleksandr Biletskyi Prize in Literary Criticism (2020) and the Volodymyr Svidzinskyi Literary Prize (2020) for her book of poetry „X-ray In Timelessness“. Author of 9 poetry collections and 3 scientific monographs. Lives and works in Kyiv.

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Anatol Khinevich

Antol Khinevich was born in Barysau in 1993. In Barysau he is known as a bard and performer of his own songs.
On December 24th 2020, Anatol Khinevich was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison for resisting national guard servicemen during the peaceful protest in Minsk in September 2020 — as though he “landed blows lying” to the OMON soldiers.
He served time in a penal colony, wrote poetry in prison.
Anatol Khinevich has fully served his prison sentence and was released on February 15, 2023.

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Marianna Kijanowska

Marianna Kijanowska was born on November 17th, 1973 in Zhovkva, Ukraine. Writer, translator and connoisseur of literature. The author of poetry collections, collections of short stories and a large number of translations. Translates mostly poetry – from Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian and Czech. The founder and director of the Velykyi Yizhak Literary Award for the best book in the Ukrainian language for children. Lives in Lviv.

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Hanna Komar

Hanna Komar is a poet, translator and activist from Belarus. She has published four poetry collections: “Страх вышыні” [Fear of Heights], a collection of docu poetry “Мы вернемся” [We’ll Return] and „Вызвалі або бяжы“ [Set Me Free Or Run] in Belarusian, as well as the bilingual collection “Recycled”. She is Freedom of Speech 2020 Prize Laureate from the Norwegian Authors’ Union.

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Nasta Kudasava

Nasta Kudasava is a poet, translator. She was born on May 25th, 1984 in Rahačoŭ, the Homiel Region (Belarus). Her works were published in various periodicals and almanacs, translated into Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Polish, Lithuanian, Czech, Russian and English. Author of five poetry books. Laureate of numerous literary prizes, member of the Union of Belarusian Writers (liquidated in Belarus).

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Iryna Lapchuk

Iryna Lapchuk (1930 – 2017) – a political prisoner and a poet. She was born in January 1930 in Lviv, Ukraine. Iryna wrote poetry in Ukrainian and was persecuted by the Soviet authorities for preserving the national Ukrainian identity. Iryna’s granddaughter, translator Tatyana Pitchulina, sent her poem to the project #FreeAllWords.

Tatyana has been taking part in the project since its beginning and translates poems by Ukrainian and Belarusian authors into Finish.

„My grandmother Iryna Lapchuk was a very lovely and reasonable lady with an artistic approach and a difficult destiny, a political prisoner. In addition to writing poems, she embroidered amazing carpets and tablecloths with Ukrainian ornaments and butterflies every day; one of her poems is how this helped her to overcome the pain. She also took care of her garden and very beautiful flowers outside her home, growing them in front of her window. She loved to feed pigeons and to watch them, as well“.

Tatyana Pitchulina, #FreeAllWords

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toni lashden

toni lashden is a Minsk-based writer, journalist, and fem activist. Organizer of fem writing meetings in Tbilisi and curator of the fem writing laboratory “Strain” for Belarusian women who have experienced protest and emigrant traumas.

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Svetlana Lavochkina

Svetlana Lavochkina is a novelist, poet, and translator. She was born in Zaporizzhia and educated in Horlivka, the Donetsk District. Lavochkina immigrated to Germany in 1999 and now lives in Leipzig with her family. Her works have been widely published in the US, Europe, and Australia. Her novella, “Dam Duchess”, was chosen as a runner-up in the Paris Literary Prize. Her debut novel, “Zap”, was shortlisted for Tibor and Jones Pageturner Prize, London.
Read here from her verse novel, “Carbon” (Lost Horse Press, 2020)

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Daria Lis

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Dzianis Macieša

Dzianis Macieša was born in 1986 in the town of Pastavy. He writes poems, prose, and plays. Winner of the „Golden Apostrophe“ award of the „Dziejasḷoŭ“ magazine for the best publication in the „Debut“ category in 2021.

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Hanna Sieviaryniec

Hanna Sieviaryniec is a Belarusian teacher, journalist and writer, literary critic, researcher of Belarusian literature. Born in Minsk in 1975. Author of six fiction and documentary books. Laureate of the literary awards. The Jerzy Giedroyc Award shortlist with the book „Belgium Hotel“ (2020), with the book „My School“ (2022).

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Inna Snarska

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Dmitri Strotsev

Dmitri Strotsev is a Belarusian poet. Born in Minsk in 1963. The author of 17 books of poetry. Head of the literary and publishing project „Novye Mekhi“ („New Wineskins“), publisher of the almanac and poetry series „Minsk School“. Laureate of many international literary awards, among them the Swedish PEN’s Tucholsky Award (2021) and the Belarusian PEN’s Aleś Adamovič Award (2021). His poems have been translated into English, Belarusian, Georgian, Italian, Lithuanian, German, Polish, Ukrainian, French, Swedish, Czech, Estonian and other languages.

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Elina Sventsytska

Elina Sventsytska – poet, writer, literature expert. Author of 8 books, published by Donetsk, Kyiv and Lviv publishing houses.
Resident of Donetsk, Ukraine until 2014. Later moved to Kyiv due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Now, in 2022, was forced to move again, leaving for the second time the (new) home and the hardly gained stability.
Writes the poetry in Ukrainian language and the prose in Russian.

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Siaržuk Sys

Siaržuk Sys is a poet, publicist, human rights defender. Born in 1962 in Paleśsie (Polesia). Graduated from the Department of History and Philology of Homiel State University. Taught the Belarusian language and literature, worked as a journalist in various mass media. Published in national and foreign mass media. Member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. Member of the Union of Belarusian Writers since October 2010; member of the Belarusian PEN. Now – in exile.

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AU

AU is a Belarusian writer. She lives in Minsk that is still a dangerous place; therefore, AU chose not to share more detailed information about herself.

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Vika Trenas

Vika Trenas (Viktoryja Lajkouskaja) is a Belarusian independent writer, editor, journalist, essayist, blogger, translator. She was born on 07 December 1984 in Minsk. She has been publish-ing her texts in Belarusian and foreign periodicals since 2000. Her works have been translated into Swedish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish, Bulgari-an, German, Russian, Ukrainian, English and other languages.

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Hanna Yankuta

Hanna Yankuta is a Belarusian writer, translator, and theorist of literature. She is the author of the poetry project “Geology”/”Constitution” (2022), five children’s books including the series about the cat Šprot and the novel „Martha And Her Dream Of Snow“, and numerous articles and essays on literature and feminism.

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Źmicier Zacharevič

Źmicier Zacharevič is a poet and bard. Born on March 20th, 1980 in Minsk. An active member of the national-democratic movement, his poems were published in Belarusian and Ukrainian media and periodicals. In 2015, he was the first Belarusian author who visited the front line near Mariupol at the invitation of Ukrainians, where he gave several improvised concerts for UNA-UNSO volunteers, National Guard soldiers and border guards.

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