We, daughters — about women, family and identity. Author's meeting with Olivia Hälterlein

Polish and German identities are intertwined under the roofs of the daughters of immigrant families. ą is mixed with ä. Behind the Oder River, two voices are becoming louder and louder, one of the loudest representatives of which we are hosting in Wrocław!

We invite you to meet Olivia Hälterlein, a German writer of Polish origin, author of the book “Wir Töchter” (C. H. Beck, 2026), who is currently on a scholarship “Homines Urbani” at Villa Decius. The meeting will be held in Polish.

One family. Two centuries. Three women. Marianna, Rose and Valeria — grandmother, mother and daughter, whose fates intertwine despite their borders, languages and experiences. Marianna grew up in the Polish countryside at the end of World War II. Róża leaves her family village, experiences the transformations associated with “Solidarity” and leaves Poland at the end of the 1980s. Valeria is already growing up in a united Germany, moving further and further away from her grandmother's language and world. When an adult Valeria learns that she cannot have children, questions return about family, heritage and the female bond: what does it mean to be the last? What do we owe to those who came before us? And what stories end with us?

“Wir Töchter” is a poetic and multi-threaded story about memory, migration, femininity, language, origin and ties that can last generations.

(Mat. publisher)

During the meeting, the author will present translated fragments of the book, which has not yet been published in Poland.

The meeting will be led by Prof. Monika Wolting.