Keynote
An outstanding Polish reporter, a specialist
in the Balkans, this time turning her
attention to prose. A collection of sensual
and dark short stories from the Polish‑Albanian
borderlands.

Selling Points
 An outstanding and multi-awardwinning
Polish reporter.
 A literary journey through two cultural
universes – Poland and Albania – between
which the author succeeds stretching
an original, dense net of references and
similarities.
 Literarily original, sensual prose, which
leaves a mark in the imagination for a long
time.
 A rare portrait in European literature
of the contemporary Albanian
provinces – both in the historical and
the contemporary sense.
 Key issues and topics for contemporary
culture, such as women’s rights, abortion,
the exclusion of LGBTQ+ people, and also
a non-anthropocentric approach to nature.

DESCRIPTION
Rejmer short stories lead us into two
worlds simultaneously: the Polish and
the Albanian. The stories which make
up The Heart of the Siren are written in
dark and dramatic tones, similar to her
reportage stories about Romania and

Albania. There is also subtlety and detail,
thanks to which vast constellations
of threads and meanings open up
before readers, often immersed in local
history, mythology and folk traditions.
The protagonists of these stories are often
nature itself – unexpected, mysterious,
and not always friendly to human beings.
Rejmer’s prose, however, is chiefly a voice
devoted to those who in a brutal and
patriarchal reality are often lacking a voice:
women, children, and LGBTQ+ people. An
extraordinarily sensual journey between
two spaces – a northern and a southern –
which have more in common than might
appear at first sight.

Target Market
Lovers of contemporary prose.
People interested in Polish and Balkan
literature.