Fellow 2024

Project: Ukraine — A Polyphony

ariel rosé are a poet, essayist, and illustrator originally from Poland, a resident of Norway, based in Berlin. They are the author and illustrator of the books morze nocą jest mięśniem serca (the sea by night is a muscle of the heart, PIW, 2022) and Północ. Przypowieści (North: Parables, Znak, 2019), which had its launch at the Miłosz Festival (both published under the name Alicja Rosé). Their writing has appeared in leading European publications like Revue Esprit, BLA, Czas Literatury, Gazeta Wyborcza, Mellom, Ny Tid, Pismo, Samtiden, Vinduet and Zeszyty Literackie. 

"Ukraine — A Polyphony": a book about the colonialism of language on the example of Ukrainian poets and their attitude to language, mainly Russian and Ukrainian. As a poet, Rosé notices how Ukrainian poets are now struggling with language. The Russian language is the language of the aggressor and has been present for centuries in Ukraine. It is the language of the colonizer. Since it has been present for so long it has become a heritage too –– a problematic heritage. What is a language? Is it only a tool? Is it guilty? What kind of heritage do we inherit together with the language? R

osé interviewed 30 poets of various generations and explored the subject of the particular languages present in Ukraine, and outside of Ukraine, as well as the language of violence, war, and how poetry approaches them. The author’s book takes the form of an essay framing their travels, with references to various world poets and thinkers who struggled with language.