Here you will find all texts written in the context of HALMA, particularly the HALMA essays. The essays written by grant holders after they have completed their journey with HALMA are published here.
Indra's Net
Ilija Trojanow
Foreword of the HALMA catalogue by Ilija Trojanow.
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Speech delivered by the German secretary of state
Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Speech delivered by the secretary of state of the federal republic of Germany on the occasion of the HALMA presentation on March 11th 2007 at the Department for Foreign Affairs in Berlin.
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In the middle of reading, we are writing
Margret Kreidl
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The Polish Artist
Urs Mannhart
"In Minsk, where the blocks of flats are oddly far apart, and so I enjoy trying to imagine Romans, Genoese, and Neapolitanas living here - people who need to be able to tie their clothes-line across to the front of the nearest building; in Minsk, where I live on the no-shade seventh floor, and where, at this time of year, it's already bright at four, I've quickly taken - determined to get back to sleep each time I first wake - to knotting my terribly old-fashioned but easily-stretched (at least) pyjama top round my ugly mug, and hiding under the most oxygen-permeable part of the cover for a while from the day coming storming towards me."
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Make your move. A Europe-size gift
Pietro Montorfani
"Imagine someone unravelling an enormous map of Europe in front of you – something very similar to one of those used during the Napoleonic conquests at their most extensive, with lots of red pins scattered here and there, more in the East than the West – and then suddenly asking you to choose two destinations out of all those possible. What should you do?..." - Pietro Montorfani tells why he chose Berlin and Annagmakerring in Ireland.
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From Ventspils to Rousse: Margins, Elsewhere, Frontiers
Alain Freudiger
"But ever since the memory of the Cold War had itself turned cold, ever since Germany had been reunified and, to a certain extent, Europe as well, I longed to explore its margins."
- Follow Alain Freudiger's explorations in Ruse and Ventspils
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Minor Key
János Térey
Read poems and short prose that János Térey had been working on while he was staying in Ireland and Latvia.
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A hundred year war and an eternal friendship
Donatas Petrošius
"I understand that my reasoning is seen as a betrayal of national interests by some more radical Lithuanians. What can I do? I can only rejoice that at least this topic is important to the radicals. The more madmen, the more creative the country..."
- Donatas Petrošius on the often difficult relationship between Polish and Lithuanian people
- Translation: Medeinė Tribinevičius
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The Bliss of Solitude
Angel Igov
"In the past writer's residence could be translated into Bulgarian as tvorcheski dom, or literally, a “creative house”. Today this phrase sounds suspicious in my language..." - Angel Igov reflects about the meaning of the words "solitude" and "writer's residence"
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6 x B
Maritta Lintunen
Accompany Maritta Lintunen on her lyrical
journey through the six B's of her residencies.
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Billiard, amber, blue nights.
Rolf Lappert
Read about Rolf Lappert's experiences during his residence at the International Writers' and Translators’ House in Ventspils
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Eastern in Vienna
Liana Langa
"In shop-windows rabbits of plush and clay are quiet in Vienna
Leaping against glass, they shatter it breaking away."
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Seeing and hearing tell // And suddenly nothing
Petra Ganglbauer
"Does travel not always release transformation? The face you wear at your departure is not the same one with which you leave the country again. And your name? Does your name remain to you? ..." -
Petra Ganglbauer writes about her experiences in Bulgaria and Ireland.
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A Poet Away From Home
Morten Sřkilde
Read Morten Sřkilde´s impressions of Czech meat dishes and Welsh nature.
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The Last Residence of Miss Worby
Lotte Thrane
"In sunlight the sky forms an invisible glass dome over the island in the lake. It is August now, and at night you can sense the deep-blue contours of the dome, interwoven like filigree..." - Lotte Thrane meets different kinds of ghosts at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland.
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Names
Jeroen Theunissen
"Before I travel to Ljubljana, I think to myself I should never be allowed to arrive. The name is too beautiful, too flowery. The only European name with an equally beautiful name – but in a totally different way – is Triëst..." -
Jeroen Theunissen writes about his time in Ljubljana.
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Uta, Prague, Rome and the Whole World
Flavio Soriga
"I left for Prague last June with absolutely no desire to do so..." -
Flavio Soriga reflects about European history in Prague.
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Freundgasse 13
Titsa Pipinou
"On a previous visit to Vienna on Christmas time, several years ago, my plan to see all the sights within a handful of days left me with very few memories..." - Titsa Pipinou writes about her one-month-stay in Vienna.
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The Mud On Your Shoes
Mareike Krügel
"In Wales, houses have names. They perhaps have numbers too – every now and again I saw one, at least - but even if they do, they have a name..." - Mareike Krügel spent one month in Wales.
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55ş 18’ N and 21ş E
Filip Florian
"If you listen to what the maps say, then the co-ordinates sound something like this: 55ş 18’ N and 21ş E. It’s very dry-sounding. But the numbers vanish during the course of the journey and by the time you get there they will have been completely erased..." - Filip Florian writes from Nida.
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Sylt
Siân Melangell Dafydd
"I arrive from Paris at midnight on the first of May, carrying a sprig of lily of the valley in my pocket, a token of the Parisian spring. My case contains far too many light clothes. Twelve hours on the train and here I am, in Sylt. Some say the place doesn’t exist..."- Siân Melangell Dafydd is writing about her Sylt discovery.
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Stations Along the Way – Rhodes
Cvetka Bevc
"Again I am travelling with only a few things, a destination, address and instructions that the keys to my new home are waiting in a small box in a hollow under the staircase..." -
Cvetka Bevc writes about her stay at the International Writers and Translators' Centre of Rhodes.
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An Essay. Simply an Essay.
Ignacy Karpowicz
"An alarm wakes me at five in the morning. Over the past few months a good many alarms have been set in the mobile phone with no SIM card..." -
Ignacy Karpowicz found peace in Eckernförder and party in Prague.
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Nele´s face
Andrés Barba
The Spanish author Andrés Barba condenses in this text his impressions of Belgium, through the description of a woman´s face.
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Minsk Eyes
Tristan Hughes
In his essay the Welsh author Tristan Hughes tell about his stay in the Belarussian capital Minsk
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In the middle of Europe
Roland Reichen
Roland Reichen writes about his experience in Belarus, Estonia and Latvia.
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Common Ground: Embarrassments
Anna Kim
During her residency in Saint Nazaire and Minsk the author Anna Kim discovered a connecting characteristic of intercultural encounters. An essay about embarassments.
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Berlin is alone, so am I (Joseph Beuys)
Johanna Geels
The new poetry collection "Detox" by Johanna Geels will be published in December 2010 by Atlas. Three poems of her Berlin cycle have been translated into English for the HALMA library by Willem Groenewegen.
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The dialogue of cultures
László Földényi
Essay by Lázsló Földényi on "Translating Europe"
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Untitled
Richard Obermayr
HALMA grant holder Richard Obermayr tells of his stays at the International Center for Literary Translators in Sremski Karlovci and at the Estonian Writers' Union House for Wrtiers and Translators in Käsmu.
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Character: Europe
Filipa Melo
HALMA grant holder Filipa Melo tells of her stays in Ljubljana and Berlin.
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After Seasons
Annette Mingels
HALMA grant holder Annette Mingels tells of her stay on Rhodes.
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HALMA jumps: from Ventspils to Plovdiv
Urs Faes
HALMA grant holder Urs Faes tells of his stays at the International Writers' and Translators' House in Ventspils and at the Borderland House in Plovdiv.
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Europe, borderline
Daniel Goetsch
HALMA grant holder Daniel Goetsch tells of his stay at the Elias Canetti Center in Ruse.
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Triest, Magris and us
László Végel
Essay by László Végel in Sremski Karlovci
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