LCB
Iryna Tsilyk

Iryna Tsilyk

Kiew, Ukraine

Zu Gast im LCB:
März 2018

Iryna Tsilyk, geboren 1982, studierte in ihrer Heimatstadt Kiew Theater, Film und Fernsehen; sie arbeitet als Regisseurin, schreibt Romane, Erzählungen, Kinderbücher, Gedichte und Lieder. Momentan arbeitet die Ukrainerin an einer Dokumentation über das Leben von Teenagern in Awdijiwka an der Demarkationslinie zwischen Russland und der Ukraine. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung des Auswärtigen Amtes.

»I realized that literary residences do wonders.«

What are you working on at the moment?
I try myself in different ways of writing – poetry, prose, children’s books. The process of writing prose needs a special combination of time and place like nothing else. That’s why I was really glad to come to the LCB’s residence and get »a room of my own« to work on my new prose book. I’m not ready to show my hand until the end of the project, but I have to say, this month was very productive for me.

How does your stay in the Literary Colloquium Berlin affect you and your work?
I prefered to keep a good balance between the voluntary isolation in my quiet room and communication with other participants of the residence or events. The being in the LCB helped me to make a precise work schedule, but I was glad to meet new people and get some important contacts at the same time. Actually, it was my first experience: I never took part in similar literary residences. And now I realized that such practice do wonders.

What experiences will you take home?
Well, I have a lot of different impressions. For example, I liked breakfasts with other guests: we were drinking coffee, looking at the snowy lake (haha, what a spring!) and talking about literature or some down-to-earth plans. The same thing is when you meet each other in the kitchen and talk about German classical literature or else while your food’s cooking. And I really liked the LCB’s »family lunch« where I finally met all the people who work here. (Okay, I’m talking about eating only… Maybe, I just need to go downstairs now and have my lunch talking about Schiller with somebody else 🙂 )
Vielen Dank, dear friends from Literary Colloquium Berlin. It was a pleasure for me to spend one month with you. I hope, the snow will melt and one day we’ll meet again in Berlin, Kyiv or somewhere else in the boundless territory of the literature.

The interview took place in March 2018.

Tsilyk LCB

Iryna Tsilyk im LCB, März 2018, © LCB

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