Anouk Herman closes a previous chapter of their creative journey and opens a new one – and here is where a surreal sense of humour, the mythology of the People's Republic of Poland, Silesian metaphysics of everyday life, and a love for concrete architecture weave together into a gothic novel in a form of a poem. Silesia – this one is about hard work, honour, and the swift instincts of a gunslinger. At night, phantoms haunt the heaps: bad boys, the specters of Catholicism, and premonitions of unemployment. Teenage girls dominate among the gold seekers, while Sheriff General Jorg faces the daunting task of dealing with the chaotic mess. Here, you find poetry born from a deep fascination with the surrounding world, inspired by internet culture, pop music, and whispers of immortality.

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The characters in “Silesian Gothic” leap between dimensions, exploring places that vanished from the earth long before their birth. Is romanticizing an uncharted past a sign of unhealthy escapism or merely innocent play? Is there any way to escape from the coming of age? Herman employs their prose skills to intertwine not just the form but the very essence of storytelling. While our mothers and grandmothers yearn to St. Rita, patron of hopeless cases, we turn to witchcraft.

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Illustrations: Tyna Tokars 
Art direction and layout: Meg Krajewska
Editing: Maria Halber
Proofreading: Marta Kolbuszewska

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Special thanks to the Warsaw Observatory of Culture and the Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art for supporting the publication.

…and the She-Devil Bangs with a Bass is a punk libretto, and a queer legend told in numerous voices. The time and place of events are rather always and everywhere than never and nowhere. In the process of the creation of the mythical STAR-CITY, we meet a she-devil who has trouble expressing herself. However, the protagonist does not stop trying. She keeps transforming herself, inviting Devil-Kiddos and herstorians into her narrative. 

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…and the She-Devil Bangs with a Bass is a subversive story about taking over narratives and creating one’s own language that escapes the rules and introduces invigorating chaos – a language that can jump with the beat.

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In 2023-2024, the text was performed by SIKSA at numerous gigs.

Illustrations: Łukasz Przytarski (Luki)

Translated by: Agata Pyzik

Editor: Maria Halber

Editorial and visual supervision:

Aleksandra Kamińska, Agata Barbara Wnuk

Designed by: Magdalena Rzepecka

Demska’s poetry, written over the past decade, is immersed in a dense, end-of-the-world atmosphere. The world is racing toward destruction, and there’s little we can do. One can try to forget, escape by "pretending to be people," and explore a range of identities in hopes of finding one's own; or simply kill time, balancing between despair and euphoria. The body is central to this collection—its vulnerability and resistance to various contexts: time, others' gaze, and self-reflection. Are we more than just a body, a "ridiculous costume from a rental shop"? To what extent is this costume a result of conscious choice, or merely a byproduct of heteronormativity and personal habitus? The contours of traditional social and gender roles blur across these poems. The protagonist wanders through cities, clubs, pubs, and rented apartments, with her twenties serving as the backdrop – she is technically an adult but still feels lost. She traverses city centers, suburbs, and her own memories, trying to stave off the sense of impending disaster. The poetic texts are accompanied by illustrations by Filipka Rutkowska – artist, performer, and crossdresser.

Editor: Maria Halber.

Editing and proofreading: Maria Halber

Editorial and visual supervision: Aleksandra Kamińska, Agata Barbara Wnuk

Illustrations: Filipka Rutkowska

Graphic design and layout: Magdalena Rzepecka

ACABADŁO is a collection of lesbian poems and song lyrics written by Łaja Szkło from the band Di Libe brent wi a nase Szmate, illustrated by Alin Szewczyk. It's an expression of rebellion against queerphobes, sexists, SWERFs, classists, racists, border guards, and cops. ACABADŁO translates the language of 2020 protests into poetry. 

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Illustrations: Alin Szewczyk

Editing and proofreading: Maria Halber

Editorial and visual supervision: Aleksandra Kamińska, Agata Barbara Wnuk, Magdalena Rzepecka, Ada Rączka

Consultation: Sylwia Chutnik

Design and typesetting: Magdalena Rzepecka

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The poem “Broken Cindy” was commissioned by the Salvage Art Institute, founded by artist and poet Elka Krajewska in 2009. One of the projects implemented by the institute was No Longer Art, which focused on works deemed worthless by art market insurance agencies. Among the works donated to SAI was one of the self-portraits of photographer Cindy Sherman (SAI 0009). “Broken Cindy” by Eileen Myles uses Sherman’s work as a starting point for reflections on what it means to have a queer body in a heteronormative reality. If we read the poem literally, as a tale of a devalued artwork, it resonates with a perverse, dark humor. However, if we expand the interpretation to include the collective experience of queer corporeality, the text resonates far more brutally and poignantly. Where lies the boundary between queer salvation and enslavement?

The zine publication of the poem and its translation is accompanied by an essay, “Queer Bodies, Transatlantic Lineages: Reading Eileen Myles in Poland,” written by Aleksandra Kamińska and Maria Halber.

"Broken Cindy" by Eileen Myles translated by: Elka Krajewska with support of Aleksandra Kamińska, Maria Halber
Essay “Queer Bodies, Transatlantic Lineages: Reading Eileen Myles in Poland”: Aleksandra Kamińska, Maria Halber
Illustration: Elka Krajewska
Proofreading: Hannah Marshall
Design and typesetting: Hannah Marshall
Special thanks to Joanna Mąkowska.

“Broken Cindy” was commissioned by the Salvage Art Institute for the publication No Longer Art: In A Coma.

This project has been made possible by the City of Warsaw artistic scholarships programme. 

In this collection of stories, the fairy-tale world intertwines with painful realities, creating a highly metaphorical tale about searching for one's place in the world. The collection takes the form of a collage of various literary genres: fairy tales, classic short stories, songs, and diary entries. The narrative is unified by recurring motifs and symbols, including the wild strawberry, which, through its own subjectivity, places the story within the realm of eco-queer and posthumanist literature. The Dream of Being a Wild Strawberry resonates with a sense of non-belonging and a nostalgia for the unexperienced and unattainable. In a metaphorical, fairy-tale manner, the author reflects on the idea that not everyone can feel at home, even within their own body. 

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Illustrations: Apollin Sigrist

Editors: Maria Halber, Aleksandra Kamińska

Editorial and visual supervision: Aleksandra Kamińska, Agata Barbara Wnuk

Editorial support: Olka Dąbrowska

Proofreading: Marta Kolbuszewska

Graphic design and layout: Magdalena Rzepecka

An Attempt to Exit the Womb / An Attempt to Enter the Womb by Ada Rączka is a nonbinary coming-out in the form of a poem, visually co-created with Zofka Kofta. The poem is both a linguistic experiment and a narrative that draws you in, moves you, and captivates you. The unique rhythm, repetitions, and metaphors make Attempt to Exit the Womb / Attempt to Enter the Womb feel like reading in a trance. Gertrude Stein would be proud!

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Editorial and visual oversight: Aleksandra Kamińska, Agata Barbara Wnuk, Alin Szewczyk, Łaja Szkło, Magdalena Rzepecka
Editing and proofreading: Maria Halber
Consultation: Sylwia Chutnik
Graphic design and layout: Zofka Kofta