Volha Hapeyeva
born in 1982 in Minsk, Belarus, Volha Hapeyeva is a poet, author, translator, artist, and PhD linguist. She studied at the State Linguistic University of Minsk, where she earned her doctorate in 2012 and worked as a professor until 2019. She also earned an MA in Gender Studies from the European Humanities University in Vilnius, where she later taught.
Her literary texts have been published in journals and anthologies since 1999. To date, she has published 15 books in Belarusian. In her poetry, Hapeyeva explores the expressive potential of language as a means of expanding consciousness and reveals the endless possibilities of poetic interpretation. A recurring motif is the human body – as a medium between people, as an object of trauma and inflicted pain in a patriarchal world. Politics and historical events are observed and evaluated from a distinctly female perspective. Her focus on the position of women in society and gender relations aims at freedom and independence. In 2020, a selection of her poems was published in German under the title »Mutantengarten« [trans. Matthias Göritz, Martina Jakobson, and Uljana Wolf]; the English edition, »In My Garden of Mutants« [trans. Annie Rutherford], followed in 2021 and received the English PEN Translates Award. Hapeyeva’s children’s books pursue philosophical reflections beneath seemingly everyday events and behaviors, posing essential questions about human existence. She believes that children’s and young adult literature should convey new behavioral norms and evolving values related to gender roles and gender diversity.
Her debut novel, »Camel Тravel« [2019], partly autobiographical, recounts a childhood and youth during the final years of the Soviet Union. Set in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, where both Russian and Belarusian are spoken, the story portrays a life that requires rich imagination and improvisation to navigate. The novel also carries a sociopolitical dimension, tracing the protagonist’s development into a critical, feminist individual in contemporary Belarus.
Hapeyeva’s second novel, »Samota«, centers on empathy and the question of why it is missing or lost in so many people. This mysterious and playful book, blending noir elements and magical realism, advocates nothing less than a better world and a peaceful, joyful coexistence. In addition to her poetry and prose, Hapeyeva writes plays such as »Kaleksyjaner« [trans. »The Collector«], which was presented at the XI International Theatre Festival »Konfrontacje Teatralne« in Lublin, Poland, in 2006.
Alongside her linguistic research and literary writing, Hapeyeva collaborates with musicians such as DJ Buben and Aortha on audiovisual performances, and with visual artists like Milijana Istijanovic in the context of art installations. As an artist, she works with objects and text, as seen in her solo exhibitions »Archive of Small Creatures« (Graz, 2024) and »Marchroots of Words« [Jena, 2024–2025].
She also translates literary works from English, German, Chinese, and Japanese. As editor, translator, and author, she has contributed to various anthologies, including »Linija Frontu« [2003, »Front Line«], a collection of Belarusian and German texts, and »Antalogija latwijskaj paezii« [2013; »Anthology of Latvian Poetry«].
Hapeyeva’s own works have been translated into 15 languages and have earned her numerous accolades, including the 2021 Red Maple Literature Prize. Her essay »The Defense of Poetry in Times of Perpetual Exile«, written in German, won the WORTMELDUNGEN Literature Prize in 2022. During the protests in Belarus in the summer of 2020, she served as the city writer of Graz and later became a Writer-in-Exile with PEN Germany. In 2025, she received the »manuskripte« Prize of the State of Styria. From 2022 to 2023, she was a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program; in 2023–24, she held the Clara and Eduard Rosenthal Literary Fellowship in Jena. In winter 2025, she became the inaugural Friederike Mayröcker Poet-in-Residence in Vienna. From July to December 2025, she is the literary fellow of the Landis & Gyr Foundation in Zug, Switzerland. She divides her time between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Last Update: 2025
Mutantengarten
Gedichte
Edition Thanhäuser
Ottensheim, 2020
[Ü: Matthias Göritz, Martina Jakobson, Uljana Wolf]
Camel Travel
Droschl
Graz, 2021
[Ü: Thomas Weiler]
Samota što žyla ǔ pakoi nasuprac
Halijafy
Minsk, 2021
Paradox Niemaŭlia
Der Widerspruch des Noch-nicht-Sprachlichen
Poetisches Traktat
Halijafy
Minsk, 2022
Die Verteidigung der Poesie in Zeiten dauernden Exils
Verbrecher Verlag
Berlin, 2022
Trapezherz
Droschl Verlag
Graz, 2023
[Ü: Matthias Göritz]
Pad asobnymi koǔdrami
Skaryna Press
London, 2024
Samota. Die Einsamkeit wohnte im Zimmer gegenüber
Droschl Verlag
Graz, 2024
[Ü: Tina Wünschmann und Matthias Göritz]