ERIAC-DAAD Residency Programme for Arts and Media | Winner Announced

Launched jointly by the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program and the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), the DAAD-ERIAC–Residency Programme for Arts and Media is a multi-annual initiative offering an annual one-month residency in Berlin to one artist or cultural practitioner with self-declared Roma identity. The programme advances cultural equity and empowers underrepresented voices in the international arts field.

Each year the focus rotates across disciplines. The 2026 edition turns to literature and literary practices, with a particular focus on Romani writers, poets, and literary voices.

The residency is developed in dialogue with ERIAC’s ongoing initiative to establish the Romani PEN, a transnational community of writers, poets, translators, journalists, and cultural practitioners committed to literature, linguistic diversity, and the protection of freedom of expression, at the same time dedicated to the promotion of Romani literature. In this context, the selected resident will have the opportunity to connect with emerging and established writers of Roma origin and to be introduced to a growing network of literary practitioners across Europe and beyond.

The Jury carefully evaluated each application based on the literary quality and originality of the submitted writing, the artistic merit and feasibility of the proposed residency project, the applicant’s overall literary trajectory, and the potential impact that the residency could have on the development of their work.

The Jury selected Tamás Jónás for the 2026 residency.

The Jury recognised the writing of the winning applicant as original, psychologically profound, and formally accomplished. They also acknowledged that Tamás Jónás is already a recognised literary figure, while considering that the residency could further strengthen his international fame and literary presence at this stage of his career. The Jury also greatly appreciated the question that lied at the heart of the proposal of Tamás Jónás:

“How one might write, as a Roma author, not a ‘Roma subject’ but literature, in such a way that identity is present within it, yet not as a theme but as a point of view.”

Tamás Jónás, winner:

“I have been writing since my teens: I began with poems and tales at the same time. After books of poetry and short stories, in recent years I turned to the novel — the latest, Kívülálló (Outsider), came out in 2023.

I have always lived on peripheries. Sometimes that is horror, sometimes sunset kitsch. Both can be lived through, survived — a question of company. Writing has always been a problem for me: perpetual failure, owned embarrassment. I may call myself successful — I have prizes, I have children, and I do what I love. And that is not only writing. In the best of times: undisciplined people and disciplined mathematics. One might think at first that these two stand rather far apart, but let me mention just one thing: neither works without irrationality. How we can be random and free — lately this is the question that occupies me most. I see the world in several kinds of synaesthesia. Joy, for instance, is a burgundy parallelogram. How winning this fellowship fills me with joy is something I could only “tell” in a cartoon.

I am fifty-three. I was born in Csernely, in Hungary’s Appalachia. The name is of Slavic origin: it means dark”.

Honourable Mention: Carmen Baltzar

The jury wishes to publicly acknowledge Carmen Baltzar as one of the strongest applications in this year’s edition. The Jury greatly appreciated the originality and coherence her interdisciplinary artistic practice, as well as the thoughtful way in which her literary work engages with visual art, memory, and Romani experience.

Carmen Baltzar is a Finnish-Kalo author and artist working as a storyteller across a variety of mediums, including text and film. Her writing, “love is a rebellious bird” was selected for the Finnish National Opera Sugar Factory 2026 program, which seeks to introduce fresh voices and perspectives into the opera world. She is currently working on getting her recently published first novel, carmen (Kosmos, 2026), translated from Finnish language into other languages, including German.

“Carmen is the first edition of works taking place in a laceverse, an expanding interdisciplinary universe rooted in lace as technology, as mycelium, as the threads between past and present hands”.

The Jury consisted of the following members:

Damian James Le Bas, British Romani writer, filmmaker, and cultural contributor. His first book, The Stopping Places (2018), received the Somerset Maugham Award and the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award, and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year. Widely published as a journalist and poet, he has taught for the Arvon Foundation, is a member of the European Film Academy, and continues to write, direct, perform, and lead workshops internationally.

Dr. Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka, Executive Director of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), is a Polish Roma anthropologist, scholar, and one of the leading voices in Critical Romani Studies. She has authored and edited numerous publications on Roma political mobilisation, cultural representation, and the remembrance of the Roma genocide.

Mathias Zeiske, Head of the Literature and Film Section of the DAAD Artists in Berlin Program, is a curator, editor, publisher, and literary programmer. He previously directed the literature programme at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin and has been heading the Literature and Film Section of the DAAD Artists in Berlin Program since 2022.

About the Partners:

The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program is one of the most prestigious international scholarship programs for artists in the fields of visual arts, film, literature, and music. Its team is also responsible for the DAAD Arts and Media short term scholarships, funded by the Federal Foreign Office, supporting research and study visits to Germany by international cultural practitioners.

The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), founded in 2017, is a transnational organization promoting the artistic production, cultural heritage, and creative expression of Roma communities across Europe. ERIAC acts as a hub for Roma-led innovation in the visual and performing arts, literature, film, and cultural theory, and has played a leading role in presenting Roma culture at major international art events.