In spring 2026, we launched the Belarusian–Danish–Swedish 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’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.
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.
You can find the full playlist with all the interviews on our YouTube channel.
1 . Kseniya Stasiukevich
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.
2. Katinka Bukdahl Søby
I’ve been translating poems that are very like body specific. What’s been hard has been like sort of experiencing the bodily sensations of those poems.
3. Ilya Sinitsa
Maybe for the first time you realize the importance of distance, and of the author’s own distance from what they have written.
4. Jonas Gren
When you play with words in one language, it’s almost or it is impossible to translate the whole meaning of that wordplay.
5. Hanna Shakel
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.
6. Ylva Gripfelt
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.
7. Julia Cimafiejeva
In fact, translating poetry is a very attentive way of reading—probably the most attentive kind of reading there can be.
8. Siarhiej Kalenda
You have this urge to explain every single word, to tell what it means, to explain all of it.
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.