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SUMMARY:POLISH PROSE on Tour in the U.S.: New Voices in Polish Literature – Feminist & Queer Narratives in Independent Publishing
UID:https://instytutpolski.pl/newyork/2025/08/12/polish-prose-on-tour-in-the-u-s-new-voices-in-polish-literature-feminist-queer-narratives-in-independent-publishing/
LOCATION:
DTSTAMP:20250910
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Warsaw:20250910
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Warsaw:20250910
DESCRIPTION:Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 7:00 PMHunter College695 Park Ave, New
York, NY 10065 Room B126
Watch the conversation here.
Feminist and queer voices are flourishing in the 2020s Polish literary
scene, especially in independent publishing. Emerging from DIY practices
and gaining recognition through major literary awards, feminist and queer
authors create a new narrative landscape where literature, art, and
activism intersect. How to create space for feminist and queer voices
despite the conservative turn? And how can translation serve as a tool for
community-building across borders? 
Join us for a discussion and reading with Maria Halber—editor and author
of the award-winning novel Strużki [Trickle], the recipient of the Conrad
Prize for best fiction debut; Aleksandra Kamińska—scholar and co-founder
of the queer small press Girls and Queers to the Front; and Monika
Zaleska—writer, translator, and literary scholar. Together, they will
discuss the role of activism in literature, opposing mainstream narratives
about minorities in Central Eastern Europe, making poetry and fiction
political, bilingual publishing, and tracing the growing recognition of
feminist and queer narratives in both Polish and American literature. 
Maria Halber is a poet, writer, and editor. She made her literary debut
with the poetry collection Przejścia (Staromiejski Dom Kultury, 2020),
followed by her first novel, Strużki (Cyranka, 2023), which received the
Conrad Prize for best prose debut. A recipient of the Adam Włodek
Scholarship from the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, she is also a part of
the Girls and Queers to the Front initiative. Her work has been featured in
Pismo, Dwutygodnik, Mały Format, and Wizje. She lives and works in Warsaw.
Aleksandra Kamińska, PhD, is a scholar, publisher, and activist based in
Warsaw. She is a co-founder of the Girls and Queers to the Front initiative
(@girlsandqueerstothefront). Since 2015, GQTTF has been creating space for
queer and women artists, writers, and musicians by organizing workshops,
concerts, performances, readings, and curating exhibitions. Kamińska’s
research and artistic practices explore life narratives, girl as an
identity category, and feminist modes of production. She is an assistant
professor at the University of Warsaw. 
Monika Zaleska is a writer, translator, and PhD candidate at the City
University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. She holds an MFA from
Brooklyn College, where she was fiction editor of The Brooklyn Review and
taught in the English department. She now teaches Polish literature at
Hunter College.
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