Julia Cimafiejeva

born in Belarus in 1982,  is a writer and translator. She studied English at the Minsk State Linguistic University and holds a Master’s degree in literary studies. She has published five poetry collections in Belarusian, as well as the documentary book »Minsk Diary«, which she wrote in English. The latter has been translated into six languages. Her poems have been published as individual volumes in the United States, Germany, and Poland, and have appeared in numerous Belarusian and international projects, anthologies, and literary magazines. Her newest poetic book, “Krovazvarot” was published in Belarusian in May 2025. Cimafiejeva’s debut American book, Motherfield: Poems & Belarusian Protest Diary (Deep Vellum, 2022) was longlisted for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation and shortlisted for the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry. As a translator, Cimafiejeva has rendered poems by Walt Whitman, Stephen Crane, Enheduanna, Paul Celan, and others into Belarusian, as well as children’s books by Maja Lunde and Stian Hole. For her translation of a poetry collection by Stephen Crane, she received the Carlos Sherman Translation Prize. In 2020, Cimafiejeva took part in the protests in Belarus following the presidential election. Since then, she has lived in exile in Europe with her husband Alhierd Bacharevič. At the moment, she is a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program. She is a member of PEN Belarus and a co-founder of PEN Berlin.

Last Update: 2025

Zirkus. Gedichte
Edition.fotoTAPETA
Berlin, 2019
[Ü: Thomas Weiler, Tina Wünschmann]

Minsk. Tagebuch
Edition.fotoTAPETA
Berlin, 2021
[Ü: Andreas Rosteck]

Der Angststein. Gedichte
Edition.fotoTAPETA
Berlin, 2022
[Ü:: Thomas Weiler, Tina Wünschmann, Uljana Wolf, Lydia Nagel]

Minsk. Die Stadt, die ich vermisse. Fotografie. Gedichte
EDITIONfrölich
Berlin, 2022
[Ü: Thomas Weiler, Tina Wünschmann]

Ich zerschneide die Geschichte. Lyrik und Collagen
EDITIONfrölich
Berlin, 2025
[Ü: Tina Wünschmann]