© Sandra Hildebrandt

Marina Skalova  [ Switzerland ]

Marina Skalova was born in Moscow in 1988. As a child, she moved with her parents to France and later to Germany. After studying literature and philosophy in Paris and Berlin, she went to Switzerland in 2013 and studied literary writing in Biel.

In 2016, Skalova made her début with the poetry collection »Atemnot (Souffle court)« (tr: Breathless). The poems consist of a few lines in which Skalova playfully communicates short observations. Skalova was awarded the Prix de Poésie de la vocation en poésie 2016 for her début.

Her second, concisely written publication, »Amarres« (2017; tr: Dock), tells of the arrival of a stranger on a nameless island. Even though he dreamed of this country for a long time, he is met with rejection. Finally, he falls victim to an insidious paranoia. »Amarres« was nominated for the Lettres-Frontière 2018 and the prix Le Roman des Romands in 2018-2019. In her third volume, »Exploration du flux« (2018; tr: The Exploration of Flow), Skalova »resonates with migratory flows, bodily flows, information flows, financial flows, and ocean flows. In this movement that removes boundaries, we subtly encounter our own contradictions and build bridges between the body and politics.« (»Le Courrier«)

Skalova was not only supported in her writing by the Pro Helvetia grant in 2018, she was also author-in-residence at the Theater POCKET / GVA in Geneva in 2017/2018. Here she wrote her first play, »La Chute des comètes et des cosmonautes« (tr: The Fall of Comets and Cosmonauts), which was directed by Nathalie Cuenet and performed in February 2019. She also received scholarships in Limousin, in Château de Lavigny, and at the Literary Colloquium Berlin, and was author-in-residence in Moscow.  Her literary translations include works by Ernst Barlach, Dea Loher, Katja Brunner, Kathrin Röggla, Luba Jurgenson, Michail Schischkin, Warlam Scharlamow, and others. She received the Elmar-Tophoven scholarship for literary translation. Her own texts also appear in magazines in France, Germany, and Switzerland, and have been broadcast on the radio.

Skalova also works as a journalist and production assistant for Radio France Internationale and now lives in Geneva.

Bibliography

Amarres

L’Âge d’Homme

Лозанна, 2017

Exploration du flux

Seuil

Париж, 2018

La chute des comètes et des cosmonautes

«Падіння комет і космонавтів»
L’Arche
Париж, 2019

Тиша вигнання

Silences d’exils
avec Nadège Abadie
éditions d’en bas
Лозанна, 2019