Eva Kolacz

What circumstances will make a person leave their country, knowing that they will never be allowed to return? What makes a person leave behind everything they possess? What makes a person leave family and friends knowing they may never see them again?  In 1981, Eva Kolacz, a young actress and poet, left Poland, then ruled by the Soviet Union, because the voices of artists and writers were silenced by censorship.  She couldn’t travel freely.

Living behind the Iron Curtain she felt like a bird in a cage. With her daughter she travelled to Libya to join her husband, a civil engineer working under contract. The three of them ran to Italy and spent a few months in the refugee camp, Latina, before immigrating to Canada. Not knowing English, she chose to express herself visually through art and became a professional painter. Her poems were published in Polish magazines.  It took her 25 years to write poems in English; this is her first book.

Books By Eva Kolacz

Canadian
Eva Kolacz

What Ever We Are

In her book, Whatever We Are, Eva Kolacz records moments connected to people and places that have left an impression on her life, exploring the past as well as the present. As a sensitive and observant poet, she creates poems that are deep philosophical explorations.

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