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Ana Llurba from Argentina and Brynja Hjálmsdóttir from Iceland will spend two creative months in Krakow. The residents will work on their latest pieces, while contributing to the literary life of the city.
In September and October, we will be joined by two extraordinary artists. Thanks to the Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature Residency Programme, which offers stays to writers from the UNESCO Cities of Literature Network every year, they will spend two months with us – writing texts, getting to know the city and growing their networks in the literary industry. Ana Llurba and Brynja Hjálmsdóttir will have an opportunity to take advantage of the writing-conducive environment of Villa Decius.
Ana Llurba, also known as Ana Isabel Llurba Ferreira is an Argentinian poet and writer. Her volume of poetry Este es el momento exacto en que el tiempo empieza a correr (This is exactly the moment when time begins to run) won the Antonio Colinas Young Poetry Award in 2015. Her first novel La Puerta del Cielo (Heaven’s Door, 2018) was published in Spain, Argentina and Chile – it will also be available in Italy in the upcoming months. She graduated from the Faculty of Modern Literature at the National University of Cordoba. From Argentina she moved to Spain, where she graduated in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature Studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Currently she works in the public sector, she also writes articles for cultural publications and runs creative writing workshops.
The second resident is a poet, writer and film critic from Iceland. Brynja Hjálmsdóttir graduated in Film Theory and Creative Writing at the University of Iceland. Her debut volume of poetry, entitled Okfruman (Zygote, 2019) was nominated for the Fjöruverðlaunin (Icelandic Women’s Literary Prize) and received an award in the Icelandic Booksellers’ Literary Prize competition. She lives and works in Reykjavik.
Ana Llurba and Brynja Hjálmsdóttir will live in the Łaski House, in the guest rooms of the Villa Decius Cultural Institute, which is a partner of the project. Their stay in Krakow will be an opportunity to focus on their creative work and to participate in the literary life of the city. If the situation permits, we will meet both writers during autumn literary events.
The Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature residency programme is addressed to writers, poets and translators from the Cities of Literature belonging to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, and its objective is to open up opportunities for writers to present their work to the Central European readers, support greater diversity in the Polish and European literary community, as well as to enable local writers to meet their foreign counterparts. In the past, Krakow has hosted artists from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ukraine, Spain and Australia within the framework of the programme.
The residency programme addressed to authors from UNESCO Cities of Literature is just one of a number of projects of this kind, carried out by the Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature, alongside such residency programmes as the ICORN International Cities of Refuge Network, the Krakow-Québec residency exchange or residencies for the winners of literary awards and prizes.
The programme is carried out by the KBF (Krakow Festival Office) in cooperation with the Villa Decius Cultural Institute.