Acknowledgements
The volumeâs editors, alongside Elena Marushiakova, Veselin Popov and Sofiya Zahova, wish to thank the University of St Andrews for a KE & Impact Fund grant that allowed for presenting and discussing Papuszaâs Tears of Blood with Scottish public in the Byre Theatre in 2019. Importantly, this grant launched the book project. Subsequently, this project flourished only thanks to the unprecedented Romani studies environment that Elena and Veselin generated with their ERC (European Research Council) advanced grant project Roma Interbellum: Roma Civic Emancipation Between the Two World Wars, which received funding under the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Grant Agreement No. 694656). A word of thanks must also go to St Andrews University for its foresight and decision to host this groundbreaking ERC project.
The volumeâs editorial team appreciates it that SÅawomir Szenwald (Head, Zbigniew Herbert Regional and Municipal Public Library in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland) kindly agreed to share a scan of the Romani-language original of Tears of Blood in Papuszaâs hand. Its facsimile is reproduced in this volume. The unbowdlerized original, not consulted by any researchers or editors during the past seven decades, considerably improved the volume and will contribute to making the poem known to the worldâs reading public as Papusza did intend it.
Hamish MacDonald expresses his gratitude to Creative Scotland for a 2022 Open Fund for Individuals grant (CS-OFI-08671-0708) that made it possible to translate Papuszaâs poem into Scots and English.
In cooperation with Brill, Elenaâs research project Roma Interbellum made the study of Papuszaâs written heritage its part and financed the Open Access to this volume. The editors appreciate this kind help as much as the volumeâs future readers. The texts published in this book reflect only the authorsâ own views and opinions. The ERC or Brill is not responsible for any of these opinions or for that matter for any use that may be made of the information, which the volume contains.
Volha Bartash thanks the University of Regensburg for a scholarship granted within the framework of the Bavarian program âEqual Opportunities for Women in Research and Teachingâ that afforded her precious time needed to focus on editing this volume. Vita Zelenska, a PhD candidate at the Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies, University of Regensburg supported Volha in indexing the volume.
Emilia Kledzik (Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznaÅ, Poland) put the editors in touch with the current inheritor of Papuszaâs literary estate, namely, the poetâs granddaughter Ewa Wajs. The poem, its facsimile, transcriptions and English translation are published under the permission granted by Ewa Wajs.
Last but not least, the editors express their gratitude to Catharina Krallmann and Uwe Meier at Brill, who took such a good care of the typesetting and production of Tears of Blood.