Juaaka Lyberth: No thank You, Mr Trump—Like David, we will fight Goliath

Juaaka Lyberth (1952, Uummannaq) is a poet, lyricist, musician, writer, and chairman of the Greenlandic Writers’ Association (Kalaallit Atuakkiortut). He writes for both adults and children and focuses primarily on historical prose. Many of his songs have become widely known. He studied Inuit Indigenous culture, language, and religion at the University of Copenhagen. He has released and produced several LPs and CDs, most notably Oqaluttuat = Fortællinger (Tales, 1982), which in musical form explores Greenlandic history from the end of the Second World War to the introduction of home rule in 1953. His debut novel Naleqqusseruttortut (On the Right Path, 2012), later translated into Danish as Godt i vej, portrays the turbulent lives of Greenlandic youth within the closed environment of a secondary school and is based on real events. In 2017, he wrote the play Qaammatik Ernera (The Moon Boy) based on the music from his album Oqaluttuat. Lyberth runs his own publishing house, YTE Publishing, has published several biographies of Greenlandic figures, and translates literature from Greenlandic into Danish. His poem No, Thank You, Mr Trump (2025) spread widely across social media worldwide. Several of his songs have been featured in films—for example, parts of the lullaby Sinigit Meerannguaq (Sleep, My Little Child) can be heard in the film Gravity (2013). Lyberth is the recipient of numerous literary awards.