Cafe by Wren's St James-in-the-Fields, Lunchtime
By Anna Błasiak & Lisa Kalloo
Translated by Marta Dziurosz, Maria Jastrzębska, Danusia Stok and Elzbieta Wójcik-Leese
Published by Holland House Books
Publication date: 16 April 2020
ISBN: 978-1-910688-36-6
This book has collaboration and translation at its heart: between people, words and images, languages, cultures. The poems came first, in Polish. Then came the photographic response to them. Then four translators, Marta Dziurosz, Maria Jastrzębska, Danusia Stok and Elzbieta Wójcik-Leese, took a set of 12 or 13 poems each and translated them into English. All people involved were women: the poet, the photographer, the four translators and the two editors. Together they arrived at 51 Polish poems, 51 English poems and 51 photographs making this collection. They raise themes such as cultural identity and migration, queerness, racism, isolation and family memories.