Interview with Jarosław Mikołajewski
From Warsaw to Marsala
Jarosław Mikołajewski was among three artists selected to participate in a month-long Multilingual Artist Residency at Otium Cultural Centre in Marsala, Sicily, from September 20 to October 21, 2024. This residency was funded by Culture Moves Europe (the Creative Europe programme of the European Union) and implemented by the Goethe-Institut. The Polyglot is pleased to present multilingual interviews and works by all three resident artists at Otium on our blog, Pensieri. To read more about Otium Cultural Centre, please scroll to the bottom of this page.
1. Quali nuove esperienze o ispirazioni ti ha portato il soggiorno a Marsala? (What new experiences or inspirations did your stay in Marsala offer you?)
Sono venuto a Marsala in un momento difficile anche se euforico. Motivo di euforia è stato la nascita della mia nipotina Laura, appena un mese fa. Una certa criticità era invece legata alle incertezze attuali della mia vita professionale. Alcuni mesi fa ho lasciato il lavoro, un anno prima di andare in pensione. Mi sono trovato male nell'istituzione per cui lavoravo, inoltre mi sono anche sentito sia fisicamente che psichicamente, alla soglia di quella che chiamiamo vecchiaia. Da scrittore avevo bisogno di nuovi stimoli.
L'esperienza di Marsala e la decisione di scrivere un reportage personale (diario legato al soggiorno marsalese) mi ha permesso di capire se ero ancora in grado di scoprire il mondo. Mi sono trovato in una città nuova, privato dello slancio naturale che ho sempre avuto, meno capace (come temevo) di parlare per strada come ho sempre fatto nel mio lavoro di reporter. In poche parole ho sentito a Marsala di poter ancora creare forme nuove fra prosa e poesia, di poter usare la mia esperienza di vita e di scrittura per scavare nelle forme e nei sensi.
I arrived in Marsala at a time that was both euphoric and challenging for me. The joy came from my granddaughter Laura’s birth just a month ago, while the struggles came from uncertainties in my professional life. A few months back, I left my job just a year shy of retirement. I’d felt increasingly out of place at the institution where I worked, and it had taken a toll on me, physically and emotionally, as I approached this next stage of life. As a writer, I was in desperate need of fresh inspiration.
Marsala, along with my decision to document this experience in a personal reportage, helped me figure out if I still had it in me to explore the world with curiosity. Here I was, in a new city, feeling my natural spark dimmed and unsure if I could still connect with people in the spontaneous way I always had as a reporter. Simply put, in Marsala I felt that I could still create new blends of prose and poetry, using my life and writing experience to dig deeper into form and meaning.
2. In che modo le interazioni con artisti locali o altri residenti hanno influenzato il tuo manoscritto? (How did interactions with local artists or other residents shape your manuscript?)
Nel corso della residenza ho avuto forse pochi incontri, ma belli, con artisti come il poeta marsalese Nino De Vita e la poetessa tunisina Lilia Ben Romdhane. Essendo il mio progetto finalizzato a un reportage, ho inserito anche frammenti di conversazioni avute con loro e di loro racconti. A parte incontri con artisti, ho scoperto e ricavato molto anche per caso, facendone uno dei motori della mia riflessione. Ho provocato situazioni nuove parlando con partecipanti del laboratorio, con i mentor oppure con "altri", comunque li si voglia chiamare.
Per fare un esempio: Nino De Vita mi ha fatto capire meglio la scelta dialettale di un poeta italiano, Lilia mi ha fatto avvicinare a un modello di poesia diverso dalla mia prassi di poeta "classico".
Throughout the residency, I may not have met many artists, but each encounter was meaningful—especially with Marsala’s poet Nino De Vita and Tunisian poet Lilia Ben Romdhane. Given my journalistic approach, I wove fragments of our conversations and their stories into my project. Beyond these artist meetings, I also gained valuable insights by pure chance, which became a major theme in my reflections. I created new dynamics by engaging with the workshop participants, the mentors, or simply with “others,” however you might describe them.
For instance, Nino De Vita offered me a deeper understanding of an Italian poet’s choice to write in “dialect,” while Lilia opened my mind to a poetic style quite different from my own more “classical” practice.
3. Potresti condividere un paragrafo o una poesia dal progetto di reportage su cui hai lavorato durante la residenza? (Could you share a paragraph or poem from the reportage project you worked on during the residency?
Ecco una poesia che ho scritto in polacco dopo la visita nel porto di Marsala: (Here is a poem I wrote in Polish after visiting the port of Marsala)
Cmentarzysko Kutrów
jest smutniejsze od ziemi w której
grzebiemy naszych
nie ma rozmowy między niczym
a niczym
nikt nie rozpala choćby nikłych światełek
w płomieniu późnej nocy
morze przybrzeżne kołysze dwie siostry
anna cichym pluskiem żegna
caterinę
caterina ochrypłym głosem marynarza
czułą kołysankę śpiewa siostrze annie
luli luli
dalej dalej
biedne hale
dawne lale
anna jest mniejsza
dostaje więc więcej miłości
jestem na cmentarzu
a chce mi się siusiu
zabieram kroki żałobne do domu
The Boat Graveyard
is sadder than the earth in which
we bury our own
there is no conversation between nothing
and nothing
no one lights even a faint candle
in the flame of late night
the coastal sea sways two sisters
Anna quietly bids farewell
to Caterina
Caterina sings a tender lullaby
to her sister Anna
with the hoarse voice of a sailor
luli luli
go on, go on
rickety halls
old dollies
Anna is smaller
so she receives more love
I am at the cemetery
and I need to pee
I take my mourning steps home
Translated by Adriana Oniță and Ewa Kolacz
Il Cimitero delle Barche
è più triste della terra in cui
seppelliamo i nostri
non c'è conversazione tra nulla
e nulla
nessuno accende nemmeno una debole candela
nella fiamma della tarda notte
il mare costiero dondola due sorelle
Anna saluta silenziosamente
Caterina
Caterina canta una dolce ninna nanna
alla sorella Anna
con la voce rauca di un marinaio
luli luli
va’, va’, va’
misere casupole
vecchie bambole
Anna è più piccola
così riceve più amore
sono al cimitero
e ho bisogno di fare pipì
faccio i miei passi di lutto verso casa
Translated by Nicolò Messina
The interview was conducted with Polish poet Jarosław Mikołajewski in Italian, then translated to English by Adriana Oniță. The poem was translated to English by Adriana Oniță and Ewa Kolacz, and to Italian by Nicolò Messina. Published with the author's and translators’ permissions. Copyright © 2024 original poem and interview questions by Jarosław Mikołajewski.
Photo of Jarosław Mikołajewski by Adriana Oniță
Jarosław Mikołajewski, born in Warsaw, Poland, is a poet, journalist, essayist, and a leading translator from Italian to Polish. He has authored numerous reportage books, poetry and theater projects, translations, and children’s books. In Italy, two of his works, Uccisioni per amore (Forum Editrice, 2008) and Tè per un cammello. Ovvero i casi e i casini dell’investigatore McCoy (Forum Editrice, 2005), were published in translations by Silvano De Fanti. His notable translation work includes texts by Dante, Petrarch, Michelangelo, Leopardi, Montale, Ungaretti, Pavese, Pasolini, and Levi. Currently, Mikołajewski contributes to Gazeta Wyborcza, with a focus on Italian and Mediterranean issues. His primary interests involve migration and the role of culture, especially art, in addressing social challenges and supporting immigrant integration in Europe.
What is Otium?
Otium is a cultural center founded in 2013 by Barbara Lottero in Marsala, Italy, fueled by the idea that books and reading are essential to our humanity. It was created as a welcoming space for people to come together and freely explore cultural topics in an informal way.
Over the past eleven years, Otium has grown and evolved while staying true to its core mission: promoting reading as a pathway to personal and social growth. Otium manages a social grassroots and accredited library, a bookshop, and event space. In the last decade, Otium has hosted 242 events, covering everything from books, music, and theater to food and wine tastings, educational projects, and creative workshops.
Follow Otium’s journey on Instagram, Facebook, and their website.