Stories, including poetry, often travel farther than we expect. Sometimes they leave our hands and begin a life of their own, shifting, growing, and finding new voices along the way.

My poem “Switching” has done exactly that, and I hope it will continue doing so…

What began as a single piece of writing for an art exhibition slowly unfolded into something I never planned: a poem translated, reinterpreted, and carried into new cultural spaces through the voices and hearts of others.

From English to French, Yoruba, and Polish, “Switching” has shown me what happens when mixed heritage meets language, when a poem becomes a meeting place between cultures rather than belonging to just one.

A Poem Born from Movement and Not Belonging

I wrote “Switching” during a time of quiet reflection on my heritage, travel, and the fluidity of being mixed and multicultural, which so often means not fitting in as expected.

The poem became part of the exhibition On the Vastness of Our Identities, created in collaboration with Verdiana Albano, founder of Institute Contemporary.

What I did not anticipate was that the single written piece I was asked to deliver would be translated into three different languages. Not only that, but the poem was also recorded, which I believe I have already mentioned in one of my other blogs – first in English to accompany last year’s exhibition in Arles and this year in three other languages in Bordeaux. These recordings shape their own linguistic worlds and experiences beautifully.

Poetry Translation in Collaboration

Each translation has been a conversation.

Each version, a new emotional colour.

Hearing the poem in Yoruba felt grounding, as if a part of my somewhat lost heritage was speaking directly back to me.

Recording it in Polish, my other language, brought a quiet familiarity and homeliness.

Experiencing it in French during my time in Bordeaux added a new layer of artistic expression and connection.

These translations are not just linguistic transfers; they are interpretations, extensions, and living evolutions of the poem itself. And I love it.

Bordeaux: Documenting the Process

My recent trip to Bordeaux allowed me to document this multilingual journey and process more intentionally, during a brief artist residency before the exhibition.

Between morning edits while looking rather rough, poetry recordings, discussions, and finally seeing the complete project, I tried to capture moments that show how a single poem can travel through places and people and then come back to its author to teach them something new.

I share these moments in the vlog below, a blend of art, culture, mixed heritage, and life between languages.

Why This Matters to Mixed Heritage Press

As a culture-driven publishing consultancy, we at Mixed Heritage Press are rooted in the belief that stories shaped by travel and culture or many cultures, deserve space, visibility, and care.

The journey of “Switching” is, in many ways, the journey of so many multicultural narratives:

• fluid rather than fixed
• shaped by movement
• carried by the community
• expanded through translation
• living between worlds

It reminds me that stories do not end on pages. They continue in the voices of those who engage with them.

A Note of Gratitude

To everyone who has translated, read, listened, or connected with “Switching”, thank you. You have shown me how art grows when we let it breathe across cultures.

And for those curious to see the poem’s journey in motion, I hope the vlog inspires you, whether you are a writer, a reader, or a wanderer between languages yourself.

Thank you for being here.

I appreciate you,

Monika