Mariola Kruszewska

(b. 1965) – a poet, prose writer and traveller.

She is the author of ‘Bywam kobietą’ (I Can Be a Woman) and ‘Wczoraj czyli dziś’ (Yesterday, That Is, Today). Her poems have been published in anthologies and the press. She has edited volumes of poems: ‘Antologia Oazy Szeptów 2006–2008’ (Anthology of an Oasis of Whispers, 2006–8, 2008), ‘Ogrodowe pejzaże’ (Garden Landscapes), ‘Antologia Forum Ogród Ciszy’ (A Garden of Silence Forum Anthology, 2009) – both with Tomasz Kowalczyk, and ‘Ogrodowe fantazje. Antologia Forum Ogród Ciszy’ (Garden Fantasies: A Garden of Silence Forum Anthology 2011) with Tomasz Kowalczyk and Jolanta Kowalczyk. She co-founded the Internet literary forum Ogród Ciszy.

In I Can Be a Woman the reader uncovers everyday experiences, emotions and aspects of femininity that are universal, both subtle and quite pronounced. In these works, she raises issues tied to the role of women in society, calls attention to their inner experiences and quandaries and shows how differently they can relate to their surroundings. Yesterday, That Is, Today is a collection of poems that shows the relationship between past and present. The speaking subject in these poems describes issues that concern us all, shows that history likes to repeat itself, and the past can be present in everyday life; this means the border between past and present sometimes seems to blur. The author also asks how far today’s society deals with ethical dilemmas, which are often rooted in events of many years ago. Mariola Kruszewska also comments on the consequences of war – she depicts it both from the perspective of individual experiences and in terms of how it affects society. These poems demand attention and openness to interpretation, they do not offer simple, evident and well-trodden answers.

‘Czereśnie będą dziczeć’ (Cherries Will Grow Wild) is her prose debut. This is a collection of short stories that show the fortunes of exiles and transplants. These stories raise issues tied to history and identity, and are an attempt to find a sense in life in the midst of change. The protagonists in the book try to regain their balance in new, often difficult circumstances, after being resettled to an unfamiliar place. Mariola Kruszewska’s book is also filled with reflections upon the uniqueness of every life. Using comparisons to the cyclical patterns in nature, the author symbolically depicts what is closest to plants and people.

For Yesterday, That Is, Today, Kruszewska received the Orfeusz Mazurski Award (2014). For Cherries Will Grow Wild she took home the main prize in the Bolesław Fac City of Gdańsk Literary Competition in 2016. The same publication also earned her a nomination for the Angelus Central European Literary Award (2018).