Marie Iljašenko

poet, writer and translator

Marie Iljašenko is a poet, writer, and translator of Czech-Ukrainian origin. She has written three collections of poetry. In her latest, titled Animals Come to the City (Zvířata přicházejí do města, 2025), she focuses on the big city as a home for humans, animals, and plants. Her first book, Osip Heads South (Osip míří na jih, 2014), was nominated for a Magnesia Litera award in the category Debut of the Year. She also writes short stories, columns, and essays. In 2023 she won the Tom Stoppard Prize for the best essay written in Czech, in which she addressed the topic of central European cultural identity. She regularly writes columns for the website iLiteratura.cz as well as for Foyer, the magazine of the National Theatre. She translates from Polish and Ukrainian into Czech, mainly contemporary poetry. She has edited a number of books, including the anthology of war reports Bread from the Minefield (Chleba z minového pole, 2023). Since 2022 she has been working as an editor at DOX, where she prepares exhibition catalogues and other books for publication.