KLICKA Barbara

Born on 30 April 1981 in Warsaw; daughter of Zygmunt Klicki and Zofia Śląska. She spent her childhood and youth in Płock. In 1994, she became involved in the activities of the Marabut Literary Youth Club run by the poet Marek Grala in the Płock House of Culture (now the Płock Centre for Culture and the Arts). She joined the Marshal Stanisław Małachowski Grammar School in Płock in 1996. She made her debut in 1997 with a set of twelve poems published in the anthology Kroki po śladach (Tracing footsteps), which was published by the Płock House of Culture, the Płock Citizens' Art Club (Klub Artystyczny Płocczan) and the Marabut Literary Youth Club. She completed her advanced secondary education in 2000 at the private Secondary School of the "Profesor" Educational-Consulting Alliance in Płock (Liceum Ogólnokształcące Zespołu Oświatowo-Konsultacyjnego „Profesor”) and started a degree in Polish philology and science information at the University of Warsaw (UW). Her poems, short prose pieces, interviews and column pieces appeared sporadically in periodicals including "Studium" (2003-2006), "Przekrój" (2004), "LiteRacje" (2005), "Arkadia" (2007), "Wakat" (2012), "Dwutygodnik" (2013, 2015, 2017, and 2020), "Znak" (2017-2018), "Dialog" (starting in 2020 the regular column Sztuczki [Tricks]), and "Dialog Puzyny" (since 2023). Between 2010 and 2014, she co-edited the quarterly "Cwiszyn", which was dedicated to Jewish culture and the Yiddish language. There she was editor the Pogranicza (Borderlands) section, while in 2010/11 she published pieces in the column Gojki okiem (Through a goy woman's eyes). She enjoyed professional associations with various Warsaw cultural institutions, including the Jewish Theatre, the Shalom Foundation, the M. Friedman Foundation, the Foundation for Internet Literature, the Old Town House of Culture, and the Modern Poland Foundation. Between 2008 and 2015, she was married to the poet and prose writer Cezary Domarus. From 2012 to 2014, she was a member of the folk-punk band Pochwalone, writing lyrics and playing various instruments, including the güiro. She also sang in small choirs. In 2015/16, she and Jacek Dehnel co-created project Nowy Tajny Detektyw (New Secret Detective), which was involved in publishing books and albums, as well organizing a multimedia exhibition and running a blog. In 2016, she and Jarosław Lipszyc, were responsible for the content of the project Wiersze Wolne na Wolnych Lekturach (Free Poems in Free Readings), which was run by the Modern Poland Foundation and provided a free digital library. The same year, she received the Silesius Wroclaw Poetry Prize and the Gdynia Literary Prize for her volume Nice. In 2017, she made her debut as a prose writer with excerpts of her novel Zdrój (Source) appearing in the monthly "Znak" (nos 9-12 2017 and nos 1-7/8 2018). She also debuted as a playwright in 2017 with Elementarz (Primer), which premiered on the main stage of the National (Narodowy) Theatre in Warsaw. Between 2017 and 2019, she was curator of the interdisciplinary Podlasie SlowFest festival. She was appointed to the programme council of the Gdansk European Poet of Freedom Festival in2 2019. In the summer of the same year, she co-founded the Literary Union Association and subsequently joined its membership commission. That year she was also part of the choir group Chór Piór that was involved in the recording of the album Janerka na basy i głos (Janerka for bass and voice), which paid tribute to the Polish rock musician Lech Janerka. She began collaborating with Austrian Cultural Forum in 2020. In 2021, she collaborated with the publishing house Wydawnictwo Filtry as a Polish prose editor. In 2022, she was appointed manager of the Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Studio Theatre in Warsaw and also made a member of the chapter of the Gdynia Literary Prize. She lives in Warsaw.