Zofia Bałdyga

(b. 1987) – a poet and translator.

She has rendered many translations from Czech and Slovak, and promotes new Polish poetry in Czechia and Slovakia. She herself writes poetry and articles as well, both in Polish and in Czech.

She has published five books of poetry in Polish: her debut, Passe-partout (2005), ‘Współgłoski’ (Consonants, 2010), ‘Kto kupi tak małe kraje’ (Who Buys Such Small Countries, 2017) with graphic design by Olga Wasilewska, ‘Klimat kontynentalny’ (Continental Climate, 2021), a volume written after the author’s long stay in Armenia, and ‘Nauka oddychania’ (Breathing Lessons, 2025). 2023 saw the release of Bałdyga’s first book of poetry written in Czech, Poslední cestopisy.

Her works have been published in anthologies: ‘Solistki. Antologia poezji kobiecej’ (Soloists: An Anthology of Women’s Poetry, 1989–2009), ‘Warkoczami. Antologia Nowej Poezji’ (Braided: An Anthology of New Poetry, 2016), ‘Anthologia #2’ (Anthology #2, 2010, London), ‘Wiersze dla opornych’ (Poems for the Hard-Headed, 2020), and ‘Poetki na czasy zarazy’ (Women Poets in the Time of Cholera, 2021); her selected poems have been translated into French, Ukrainian, Swedish, Russian, Spanish, Hungarian, Armenian and English. She received a scholarship from the Ministry of Education in 2011/12.

As a translator, she prefers contemporary Slovak and Czech poetry. She has published them in collections ‘Pociąg do poezji, intercity. Antologia wierszy współczesnych z motywem podróży’ edited by Artur Fryz (On Track to Poetry, Intercity: An Anthology of Contemporary Travel Poems, 2011), ‘Sąsiadki. 10 poetek czeskich’ (Neighbours: 10 Czech Women Poets, 2020) and ‘Sąsiadki. 10 poetek słowackich’ (Neighbours: 10 Slovak Women Poets, 2022). For Neighbours: 10 Czech Women Poets and her translation of a volume by Miloš Doležal, ‘Jazda na szkle po oszczanym zboczu’ (Riding Down a Pissy Slope on Broken Glass), she received the Literatura na Świecie Award in 2020 in the New Face category. She has translated poems by Ondrej Buddeus, Jonas Hajek, Olga Pek, Jana Bodnárova and Jan Zboril. She has published in Czas Kultury, Odra, ArtPapier, Pogranicze, FA-art, Elewator, Fabularie and Rita Baum.

She and Marcin Orliński co-created the poetry and music project Elektroliryka. She is a member of the Central European chapter of the Václav Burian Award, given to works from Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Germany and Hungary. She collaborates with Sdružení pro integraci a migraci [Association for Integration and Migration], a humanitarian organisation based in Prague, and has participated in Iniciativa Hlavák, giving help to refugees coming to Prague.