ariel rosé

ariel rosé (they/them) is a trans gender poet, essayist, and illustrator originally from Poland, resident of Norway, a nomad.

They are the author and illustrator of the books morze nocą jest mięśniem serca (the sea at night is a muscle of the heart, PIW, 2022) nominated for the Orfeusz Award, and Północ. Przypowieści (North: Parables, Znak, 2019), which had its launch at the Miłosz Festival and was nominated for the Polish-German Josepha Award (both published under the name Alicja Rosé). Their writing has appeared in leading European publications like Arrowsmith Journal, Asymptote Journal, Revue Esprit, Eurozine, BLA, Czas Literatury, Gazeta Wyborcza, Pismo, Samtiden, Vinduet and Zeszyty Literackie.

ariel received the Warsaw Literary Award and was named to the IBBY Honor List for their illustrations for Magdalena Tulli’s book Ten i Tamten Las (This and The Other Forest) (Oficyna Wydawnicza Wilk & Król, 2017). They were also nominated for the Most Beautiful Book Award for their illustrations for Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s Kocia Książka (Cat Book) (Oficyna Wydawnicza Wilk & Król, 2015).

They translate poetry and prose from English, Italian, French, Norwegian, and Spanish into Polish, as well as from Polish into English. They translated from French and illustrated Laura Ulonati’s book Dans tout le bleu (Actes Sud, 2021) (Cały ten błękit, Wydawnictwo Nowe, 2022). They also translated Ilya Kaminsky’s Dancing in Odessa (Tupelo Press, 2004), which is soon to be released by Pogranicze/Borderland.

As a resident of Norway, ariel was invited to attend the Norway Guest of Honor program of the Warsaw Book Fair in 2022. There, they presented Norwegian and Ukrainian poetry and led a meeting with the Norwegian poet Aina Villanger, which featured ariel’s translations of her poetry. They are a member of Literary Union and Literary Translators Association in Poland, PEN Berlin in Germany, Litteratur på Blå in Oslo, Norway and Circolo Scandinavo in Rome, Italy. Twice a year, they invite poets from underrepresented countries to Oslo, they lead the conversation and translate the poems to Norwegian together with Aina Villanger.

In 2023, ariel collaboratively launched Both Sides of the Border Face East, an international arts initiative focused on Eastern/Central Europe. The project is under the patronage of Marci Shore and supported by the Fondation Jan Michalski and the Renaissance Institute. Its inaugural iteration was dedicated to the war in Ukraine. ariel also initiated Wiersze Nie Płoną (Poems Don’t Burn), a marathon reading of Ukrainian poetry with music, to raise funds for Ukrainian publishers.