Jiří Váňa Stigen: Heavenly!
– Czechia
Born 1984 in Ostrava, he has been divided between Ostrava and Moravian Wallachia in his childhood and between Czechia and Norwayin his adulthood. He is a trained gardener and obtained a degree in Scandinavian and Czech studies from the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University. In Norway, he worked as a farmer and a carpenter, and since 2020 he has been teaching at the university in Ås. He is also a translator from Norwegian (Jo Nesbø) and the author of poetry collection Vzpomínkovník (The Memorybook, 2010) and of lyrical prose works Sušírna (Drying Room, 2015), Ozim (Winter Crop, 2019), and Jař (Spring Crop, 2022). When asked by Jitka N. Srbová: "How does the soil, earth smell to you?", he replied: "Heavenly! I have it in my name. Jiří means farmer, cultivator or grower. I hold it in my palms throughout the year, like layers signifying its profound worth."