Episode 41: Hanna Komar on Poetry and the Belarusian Struggle
“When we were protesting, we could feel that finally this is our home and we want to live here the way we want to live here. Stop telling us how to be at home here.”
This week, we’re joined by Belarusian poet, translator, and writer Hanna Komar.
Hanna shares her early life, growing up in a small village in Belarus, where she found comfort in poetry, and later discovered the power of writing poetry in Belarusian rather than Russian.
She recounts the nationwide protests following the rigged presidential elections in Belarus, in which long-time President Lukashenka seized power once again. The protests were met with a fierce crackdown on activists, leading to Hanna and thousands of others being imprisoned.
While sharing her story, Hanna also recites some of her deeply powerful and emotive poetry. She concludes by telling us about her upcoming play, Body in Progress, coming to London next month.
As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.
Bosla Arts is on Patreon!
Hello listeners. We hope you are enjoying Art Persists, a podcast that we run completely independently. In order for us to continue doing so, we need your help!
About
Hanna Komar is a Belarusian poet, translator, writer.
Hanna’s poetic work lays bare the experience of being a girl, then a young woman, growing up in a strongly patriarchal authoritarian country.
She has published five poetry collections: “Страх вышыні” [Fear of Heights], a collection of docu poetry “Мы вернемся” [We’ll Return] and “Вызвалі або бяжы” [Set Me Free or Run] in Belarusian, as well as a bilingual collections Recycled and Ribwort and a non-fiction book "Калі я выйду на волю" [When I'm Out of Here].
Her work has been translated into Polish, Ukrainian, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Czech, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Danish and Russian. She translates her work into English.
Visit her website: https://www.hannakomar.com/en
Get tickets to her upcoming play: https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/events/body-in-progress/
Follow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/