{"id":23039,"date":"2026-06-30T10:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/?p=23039"},"modified":"2026-07-09T13:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:08:10","slug":"verse-x-change-yak-adbyvausya-belaruska-skandynauski-paetychny-dyyalog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2026\/06\/30\/verse-x-change-yak-adbyvausya-belaruska-skandynauski-paetychny-dyyalog.html","title":{"rendered":"verse X change: Inside the Belarusian\u2013Nordic Poetic Dialogue [video]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\" data-start=\"80\" data-end=\"508\">In spring 2026, we launched the Belarusian\u2013Danish\u2013Swedish poetry exchange, <a href=\"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/tag\/verse-x-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener \"><em data-start=\"157\" data-end=\"173\">verse X change<\/em><\/a>. Belarusian poets travelled to Denmark and Sweden, where they met with fellow writers and worked together during a series of creative workshops, translating each other&#8217;s poetry. As a result, contemporary Belarusian poetry will be published in Danish and Swedish, while Danish and Swedish poets will appear in Belarusian translation.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"513\" data-end=\"777\">We asked some of the participants to share their impressions in a series of short interviews. Watch the video to discover how poets find a common language through translation, the challenges they encounter, and the new insights they gain through collaboration.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"782\" data-end=\"864\"><strong>You can find the full playlist with all the interviews <a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLRH7-6Zb9x2I&amp;si=ha1f2jdpOxVmAwAO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">on our YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h5><strong>1 . Kseniya Stasiukevich<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are not alone in this world. And if poetry matters to us, then we should approach the poetry of others with both respect and enthusiasm. <\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Kseniya Stasiukevich\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GXvL_E1vAXg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>2. Katinka Bukdahl S\u00f8by<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;ve been translating poems that are very like body specific. What&#8217;s been hard has been like sort of experiencing the bodily sensations of those poems.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Katinka Bukdahl S\u00f8by\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6G4-HeYAiio?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>3. Ilya Sinitsa<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe for the first time you realize the importance of distance, and of the author\u2019s own distance from what they have written. <\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Ilya Sinitsa\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/P30V86skjqQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>4. Jonas Gren<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you play with words in one language, it&#8217;s almost or it is impossible to translate the whole meaning of that wordplay.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Jonas Gren\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uhxHoXC7iEA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>5. Hanna Shakel<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, there are lines that require some thought. You need to spend some time walking around with them and find a version in Belarusian that has a similar emotional impact.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Hanna Shakel\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CH7NTS_u1ho?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>6. Ylva Gripfelt<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You create your own world when you have the words in front of you, but then when you have the person in front of you, you also get more.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Ylva Gripfelt\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OQPlBbnykj8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>7. Julia Cimafiejeva<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, translating poetry is a very attentive way of reading\u2014probably the most attentive kind of reading there can be.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Julia Cimafiejeva\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kXh4IzFPv_w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>8. Siarhiej Kalenda<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have this urge to explain every single word, to tell what it means, to explain all of it.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Siarhiej Kalenda\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jKtZCO0jsPw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>9. Cecilie R\u00f6nnow Egerup<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you do not have the author to consult, then you have to make some choices, and then you\u2026 then it is what it is. But when you have the author, you can discuss a lot of different ways of interpretations.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Cecilie R\u00f6nnow Egerup\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4e8XxX0JHqg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>10. <\/strong><b>Joakim Vilandt<\/b><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;m more of a school where intentionality in text doesn&#8217;t really matter that much. But we are dealing also like, and I think particularly in translation, preserving the voice in some way of the text is just very important.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Joakim Vilandt\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GOrM583UMJ8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>11. Christine K\u00e6rulv<\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em>It&#8217;s very inspiring and it&#8217;s a way of understanding the world, I think, to try to dive into another language that you&#8217;re not that familiar with and all the values and the nuances that you can find there.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Christine K\u00e6rulv\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MnV3OHUcCJo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><strong>11. <b>Bereket Hailemariam<\/b><\/strong><\/h5>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But in my poems it&#8217;s just one word, or two, three words on a page. They just mean more because there&#8217;s no context to it. So the translator has to do all that work of understanding the context, understanding all the different nuances of just this one single word because there&#8217;s nothing else.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"verse X change: Belarusian\u2013Nordic poetic dialogue. Bereket Hailemariam\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xBCgVHoGOQI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><i>This publication has been produced with the financial support from the Nordic Council of Ministers. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the coordinators of this project and does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Nordic Council of Ministers.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In spring 2026, we launched the Belarusian\u2013Danish\u2013Swedish poetry exchange, verse X change. Belarusian poets travelled to Denmark and Sweden, where they met with fellow writers and worked together during a series of creative workshops, translating each other&#8217;s poetry. As a result, contemporary Belarusian poetry will be published in Danish and Swedish, while Danish and Swedish<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":23091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4093],"tags":[4599],"class_list":["post-23039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-projects","tag-verse-x-change"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23039"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23264,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23039\/revisions\/23264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}