Szczecin has its own writer
Marta Kufel
Szczecin will hire Brygida Helbig to work as a city writer-in-residence in the coming months. Helbig will be tasked with writing a unique blog on our city. This would have not been possible without the prestigious scholarship awarded by the German Culture Forum for Central and Eastern Europe. The grant went to Szczecin for the first time in history.
The writing grant of the German Culture Forum for Central and Eastern Europe has been awarded for 16 years, with Gdańsk, Wrocław, Lviv, Klaipėda, Riga, and Pilsen among participating cities. Now, Szczecin will host the project thanks to Brygida Helbig's grant. The primary purpose of the grant is to promote knowledge about the shared cultural heritage of Szczecin and Western Pomerania and foster an understanding and dialogue between Poland and Germany.
“Between June and October, Szczecin will have an extraordinary guest – Ms Brygida Helbig, who will be hired as a city writer-in-residence. It is a great honour for us to see this highly valued grant project come to Szczecin for the first time in history,” said Szczecin’s Mayor Piotr Krzystek during today's press conference. “As part of her residency, Ms. Helbig will write a unique bilingual blog devoted to Szczecin’s histry, culture, and identity, among other subjects. It will provide a space for reflection, storytelling, and inspiration, hopefully becoming an important voice in the discussion on our city’s past and future. I am confident that her presence and writings will bring a refreshing new element to Szczecin's cultural landscape.
One of the tasks of the city writer-in-residence will be to write a blog on culture and history. Helwig will post her reflections on the capital of Western Pomerania in Polish and German on two websites:
- https://www.pisarka-miejska-szczecin.com/ (in Polish),
- https://www.stadtschreiberin-stettin.de/ (in German).
“Szczecin is my home city. I was born here and I lived here for the first 20 years of my life. This is a somewhat unusual background for a city writer in that I am both an ‘outsider’ and an ‘insider’,” said Brygida Helbig at a meeting with her. “It won’t be the first time that I get to write about the capital of Western Pomerania, as Szczecin has always been an important part of my work. My goal for the residency is to meet the people who make the highly modern city that Szczecin has grown into. I want to make myself comfortable here and see what has changed. I’m very excited about exploring all the new facets of the city!
Brydiga Helbig’s residency in Szczecin will be organised in cooperation with the Szczecin Municipality and the Pomeranian Library in Szczecin.
“I think this project is a perfect example of how to establish a connection bridging history and modern day,” said Sylwia Wesołowska, Manager of the Pomeranian Library’s Regional Division. “We hope to see excitement among Szczecin's community, and we are looking forward to reading Brygida Helbig’s thought-provoking writings, offering some fresh insights into our city.”
During her residency with Szczecin between June and October 2025, the author will live in an apartment made available to her by Szczecin’s Social Housing Association (TBS).
Born 1963 in Szczecin, Brygida Helbig is a literature specialist and writer. She studied Slavonic and German studies. She earned a PhD degree from the Ruhr University in Bochum and a habilitation degree from the Humboldt University in Berlin. Helbig was a visiting professor at universities in Szczecin and Prague. Helbig also held professorship at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and headed the Polish diaspora's office in Berlin.
Some of her notable publications include „Enerdowce i inne ludzie" (for which she was nominated for the Gryfia Literary Award in 2012), “Anioły i świnie. W Berlinie!", and „Niebko” (a highly acclaimed novel that was shortlisted to the final seven of the Nike Literary Award in 2014). This year saw the release of her another book – co-authored with Justyna Helbig – entitled “W imię matki i córki”.
Brygida Helbig has also been a radio columnist since 2018, and a podcaster (“Literandka”) on the COSMO radio station since 2023.
