Reading and conversation
Since autumn 2020, the two contemporary Belarusian authors
Alhierd Bacharevič and
Julia Cimafiejeva have been living in exile in Graz, Switzerland and Hamburg.
In his farewell text
Mit der Angst um den Hals, Alhierd Bacharevič explores the concept of fascism and its interpretation in the Soviet Union, which made fascism a reality. In 2020, the poet Julia Cimafiejeva wrote a literary diary about the events following the presidential elections in the country. In 2023, her documentary play
Extremists, which tells about situation of political prisoners in Belarus, was publicly read at the Gorky Theatre. In her photo essay
Minsk. The City I Miss the author tells the story of longing, nostalgia and hope for a reunion. Will Minsk recognise the authors when they return?
It will take a long time, the return will be difficult, answers Alhierd Bacharevič in his autobiographical book
Хлопчык і снег, which was written in exile and is a sort of escape to childhood. Unlike other artists, neither Julia Cimafiejeva nor Alhierd Bacharevič took a break from writing in exile but wrote three new books. Each of which deals in its own way with state propaganda, the events after 2020 and life in exile.
Europas Hunde, Alhierd Bacharevič's most important novel, was published in German in 2024. Among other topics, it deals with the phenomenon of language and is partly written in the constructed language Balbuta. His books are banned in Belarus, his novels
Europas Hunde and
Das letzte Buch von Herrn A. have since been labled as extremist.
Guests
© Alhierd Bacharevic
Julia Cimafiejeva (Юля Цімафеева) (born in 1982) is a Belarusian writer and translator. She is an author of four poetry collections in Belarusian and a documentary book Minsk Diary written in English. Her works have been translated into several languages and appeared in different projects, anthologies and magazines. Her recent titles in German are
Der Angststein. Gedichte (edition.fotoTAPETA, 2022) and
Minsk. Die Stadt, die ich vermisse. Fotografie. Gedichte (EDITIONfrölich, 2022). Cimafiejeva’s debut American book
Motherfield: Poems & Belarusian Protest Diary was published in November 2022 by Deep Vellum. Together with her husband, writer Alhierd Bacharevič, she lives in exile.
© Julia Cimafiejeva
Alhierd Bacharevič (born 1975 in Minsk) is a Belarusian author. He studied Belarusian literature and linguistics at the Pedagogical University in Minsk. He has published several novels and essay collections and his books have been translated into German, English, Polish, French, Russian and other languages. His 900-page work
Europas Hunde was published in 2017. The novel, which Bacharevič translated into Russian himself, was shortlisted for Russia's biggest literary award, the Bolshaya Kniga. The Belarus Free Theatre staged the novel in Minsk, London, Paris, Adelaide and Berlin (Deutsches Theater). In Belarus, Alhierd Bacharevič has been honoured with several literary awards ("Book of the Year", among others). In 2021 he was honoured with the German Erwin Piscator Award.
Moderation
Vera Dziadok is a translator and cultural manager.
After studying philology at the Belarusian State University in Minsk, she worked as a journalist and interpreter. Since 2008 she has worked as a cultural programme coordinator and translator at the Goethe-Institut Minsk. After the closure of the Goethe-Institut in Minsk in 2021, she lives in Vilnius as a freelance cultural manager and translator. Vera Dziadok has curated the festival's programme of events together with the programme team of the Goethe-Institut in Exile.
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