PEN Català–Villa Decius international residency 17.04.2025
We know the results of the call for the PEN Català–Villa Decius international residency
The PEN Català–Villa Decius international residency for emerging non-fiction writing in Catalan and Polish
PEN Català and the Villa Decius Association in Kraków, in collaboration with the Institut Ramon Llull and the FaberLlull residency in Olot, have announced the names of the authors selected to participate in the international residency for emerging non-fiction writing in Catalan and Polish. The project, which will take place between 2025 and 2026 in the cities of Olot and Kraków, aims to support literary creation and foster critical debate around contemporary social challenges.
Catalan authors:
Pit-roig Vinyals
Title of the project: I convindran molts noms a un sol amor: al·legat per la justícia lingüística universal (And many names will come together in a single love: a plea for universal linguistic justice).
It's an essay about linguistics rights. It tries to highlight and denounce the pandemic and deadly nature of the loss of linguistic diversity, as well as to explore its causes. This is one of the topics PEN Català is working on in relation to Catalan language.
Mireia Ibáñez
Title of the project: Morir és un acte col·lectiu: per una ecologia de la mort (Dying is a collective act: for an ecology of death.)
This essay asserts the need for narratives that explain and frame death as a collective process that inevitably weaves us together with our surroundings: it connects us not only as a species, but also with the rest of living beings.
Arià Paco
Title of the project: Casting de personatges masculins (Casting of male characters)
The essay explores masculinities and their link to material and political conditions. The author's working hypothesis is that there is a heterosexual masculinity that is undergoing transformation, and that the direction of this transformation is influenced by a multitude of factors: from global trends to the political power held by its nation or group of affiliation.
Polish authors:
Roland Hensoldt
Title of the project: Journalists as AI Educators: safeguarding truth in the age of deepfakes
An essay on the importance of quality journalism, major trends in content consumption, and the risks associated with generative artificial intelligence. Starting from the idea of a hyper-personalized newspaper that anticipates headlines and recreates interviews with people from the future, the text reflects on how these technologies—until recently reserved for large corporations—have become widely accessible at minimal cost. The implications of this transformation are part of a broader narrative about the crisis of truth, the growing influence of digital platforms, and the essential role that human journalism still plays in defending truthful information in a global context of disinformation.
Urszula Idzikowska
Title of the project: Polacy z wyboru: kto tworzy nową Polskę? (Poles by choice: who is building a new Poland?)
It is a literary reportage that gives voice to people living at the crossroads of cultures: among them a Kurd from Iraqi Kurdistan who is building a new life in Poland and a couple who returned from the UK in 2015. Their stories are part of a larger narrative of cultural transformation of the Polish social structure, identity and integration that are central to ongoing debates in Europe.
Szymon Opryszek
Title of the project: Fortress of Paradoxes
For centuries, Europe has been a center of science, culture and knowledge. It exported ideas, laws, governance, and excess manpower across the continent. Today, Europe is in crisis. It became a fortress of paradoxes, strongly guarded against the "invader". But nobody asks the question where the phenomenon of mass migrations came from and what impact the policy of broadly understood Europe had on it. In his reporter's book, Opryszek would like to show Europe's schizophrenia on a few specific socio-economic phenomena.
PEN Català and the Villa Decius Association in Kraków, in collaboration with the Institut Ramon Llull and the FaberLlull residency in Olot, have announced the names of the authors selected to participate in the international residency for emerging non-fiction writing in Catalan and Polish. The project, which will take place between 2025 and 2026 in the cities of Olot and Kraków, aims to support literary creation and foster critical debate around contemporary social challenges.
Catalan authors:
Pit-roig Vinyals
Title of the project: I convindran molts noms a un sol amor: al·legat per la justícia lingüística universal (And many names will come together in a single love: a plea for universal linguistic justice).
It's an essay about linguistics rights. It tries to highlight and denounce the pandemic and deadly nature of the loss of linguistic diversity, as well as to explore its causes. This is one of the topics PEN Català is working on in relation to Catalan language.
Mireia Ibáñez
Title of the project: Morir és un acte col·lectiu: per una ecologia de la mort (Dying is a collective act: for an ecology of death.)
This essay asserts the need for narratives that explain and frame death as a collective process that inevitably weaves us together with our surroundings: it connects us not only as a species, but also with the rest of living beings.
Arià Paco
Title of the project: Casting de personatges masculins (Casting of male characters)
The essay explores masculinities and their link to material and political conditions. The author's working hypothesis is that there is a heterosexual masculinity that is undergoing transformation, and that the direction of this transformation is influenced by a multitude of factors: from global trends to the political power held by its nation or group of affiliation.
Polish authors:
Roland Hensoldt
Title of the project: Journalists as AI Educators: safeguarding truth in the age of deepfakes
An essay on the importance of quality journalism, major trends in content consumption, and the risks associated with generative artificial intelligence. Starting from the idea of a hyper-personalized newspaper that anticipates headlines and recreates interviews with people from the future, the text reflects on how these technologies—until recently reserved for large corporations—have become widely accessible at minimal cost. The implications of this transformation are part of a broader narrative about the crisis of truth, the growing influence of digital platforms, and the essential role that human journalism still plays in defending truthful information in a global context of disinformation.
Urszula Idzikowska
Title of the project: Polacy z wyboru: kto tworzy nową Polskę? (Poles by choice: who is building a new Poland?)
It is a literary reportage that gives voice to people living at the crossroads of cultures: among them a Kurd from Iraqi Kurdistan who is building a new life in Poland and a couple who returned from the UK in 2015. Their stories are part of a larger narrative of cultural transformation of the Polish social structure, identity and integration that are central to ongoing debates in Europe.
Szymon Opryszek
Title of the project: Fortress of Paradoxes
For centuries, Europe has been a center of science, culture and knowledge. It exported ideas, laws, governance, and excess manpower across the continent. Today, Europe is in crisis. It became a fortress of paradoxes, strongly guarded against the "invader". But nobody asks the question where the phenomenon of mass migrations came from and what impact the policy of broadly understood Europe had on it. In his reporter's book, Opryszek would like to show Europe's schizophrenia on a few specific socio-economic phenomena.