Denisa Hasieberova

Born in Brno, Czech Republic and now based on the outskirts of Belfast, Denisa Hasieberova is a multi-disciplinary artist who has found her voice through poetry. She sees ‘poetry as a creative force for expression, for seeing and being seen,’ and finds it to be ‘a craft where personal and collective stories meet’. Through poetry she feels able to ‘delve into human connection, build networks and engage with others with a shared sense of humanity’.

Hasiebrova’s love of words was sparked by her grandparents who taught her to recite poetry and memorise traditional folk songs. Her writing is ‘shaped by the work of diverse poets, such as Seamus Heaney, Carolyn Forché, and Ocean Vuong’, but she also draws inspiration from visual art, film and music, which she believes each have their own ‘inherent poetry’. She says that ‘cinematography, in particular, inspires the way [she] approaches imagery and movement in [her] work,’ and that her poems ‘often unfold like small films’.

‘I believe poetry has the power to create bridges between our shared human experiences. For me, it’s a craft full of life and opportunity to connect with others.’

For Hasiebrova poetry’s biggest appeal is ‘the connection it creates with people,’ adding that ‘sharing my stories, and observing them being received and understood in different ways, is very meaningful to me’. As such she considers the highlight of her poetic journey thus far to be the relationships she has formed with other poets, the sense of community poetry has opened up for her and the collaborations that have come from that, helping to ‘push [her] work in new and exciting directions’.

Through A Poet in Every Port, Hasiebrova is looking forward to ‘collaborating with local, as well as distant communities’, to ‘inspiring and to being inspired’ and to ‘exploring new ideas and connecting with experiences different from [her] own’. And she is especially excited about the opportunity to ‘foster a sense of a shared purpose with the project – contributing to a collective space where poetry can bridge gaps and empower others.’