Robert Hass / Writers in Motion | Kraków UNESCO City of Literature

We invite you to watch another video in the Writers in Motion series. This time, we are speaking with Robert Hass, who was the guest of this year’s edition of the Miłosz Festival.

Robert Hass (1941 – ) is an American poet who lives in San Francisco. In 1971, he defended his doctorate in English literature at Stanford University. Czesław Miłosz, whose poems Mr. Hass has translated into English, was his neighbour in Berkeley. He has also cited Wisława Szymborska and Zbigniew Herbert as his masters. Mr. Hass is a renowned translator of haikus. In the mid-1990s, he created the River of Words association that promotion the idea of eco-literature. He was the United States Poet Laureate in 1995-1997.

The audiovisual Writers in Motion library is a long-term project realized by the Krakow Festival Office. Audiovisual portraits of Polish and foreign writers, both those living in Krakow and those who visit the city during its numerous literary events, are made thanks to interviews.

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The recordings were made in collaboration with Popmoderna – www.popmoderna.pl.

Michał Koza interviewed Robert Hass.

Michał Koza (1987 – ) is a PhD student at the Jagiellonian University’s Faculty of Polish Studies and the author of articles and interviews for Popmoderna. He also published in Estetyka i Krytyka, Ruch Literacki and E-splot. Mr. Koza studies and critiques contemporary literature, is a philosopher both privately and academically, and likes to speak with writers.

Mateusz Witkowski was born in 1989. He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the Popmoderna.pl website. A graduate of literary criticism at the Jagiellonian University’s Faculty of Polish Studies, he is currently pursuing a doctorate at the same faculty. The connections between literature and popular culture, 1980s and 1990s British music as well as Italian soccer interest him. He is a strong opponent of the division between “low” and “high” culture. So far, he has published in Dwutygodnik, Xięgarnia, Czas Kultury and Opcje. He regularly writes for Gazeta.pl and Wirtualna Polska.

As part of our writers in Motion series, we spoke with Ruth Padel, a British poet and Charles Darwin’s great-great-granddaughter, who was a guest at this year’s edition of the Miłosz Festival.

Ruth Padel (1946 – ) is a British poet, novelist and essayist. She lectures in poetry and creative writing at King’s College in London. Her most renowned book, The Mara Crossing, discusses the subject of the migrations of animals and people. She is Charles Darwin’s direct descendant and is famous for her conservationist efforts. Ms. Padel has published books of essays devoted to such diverse topics as Greek tragedy and rock music.

As part of the Writers in Motion series, we spoke with the poet and literary critic Krzysztof Siwczyk, who was a guest at this year’s edition of the Miłosz Festival.

Krzysztof Siwczyk was born in 1977. A poet, book critic and occasional actor, he won the Czas Kultury magazine’s award for the best literary debut of the year in 1995, the Culture Foundation’s award in 1999 and the Kościelski Award in 2014. He was nominated for the Silesius Poetry Award in 2011. Mr. Siwczyk’s poems were published in all of Poland’s important literary journals, and also abroad (in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Canada, France, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria). His poems were published in the following poetry anthologies: Macie swoich poetów (“You Have Your Poets;” 1996 and 1997), The Anthology of Contemporary Polish Poetry (2000), 14.44 (2000), Das Unsichtbare Lieben-Neue Polnische Lyrik (1998), Akslop (Slovenia, 2005) and Vingt-quatre poetes polonaise (Murmure, France, 2003). He played the titular role in Lech Majewski’s feature-length film WOJACZEK (1999), for which he was nominated for a European Film Award. Mr. Siwczyk also appeared in Bluesmani (directed by Adam Sikora, 2000) and the multi-generation project Czuję głód (“I Feel Hunger;” directed by Paweł Bogocz, 2008). Along with Adam Sikora, who directed, he realized the film Wydalony (“Casted Away”)based on the work of Samuel Beckett, in which he played the main role. The premiere took place during the New Horizons festival in Wroclaw in 2010. Mr. Siwczyk is a member of the Polish Writers’ Association and the Polish PEN Club. Polityka and Tygodnik Powszechny publish Mr. Siwczyk’s work. He also co-hosted the Czytelnia (“Reading Room”) and Czytanie to awantura (“Reading Is a Quarrel”) television programmes devoted to books on TVP Kultura and was the editor of the poetry section of the Litera (“Letter”) journal. He works in the Mikołów Institute, where he edits a poetry editorial series as well as the Arkadia literary journal. Mr. Siwczyk lives in Gliwice.

A new outstanding figure, Ms. Aslı Erdoğan, is joining the milieu of Krakow’s literary guests. The Turkish writer will stay in the Polish UNESCO City of Literature as part of a fellowship from ICORN, an international network of cities offering writers and human rights advocates refuge. Krakow’s membership in the programme is one of its strategic areas of action, aimed at deepening the links between literature and human rights in Poland.

The organisers of Ms. Erdoğan’s stay are the city of Krakow, the Krakow Festival Office and the Villa Decius Association, which helps her to realise the fellowship programme and offers her a place for creative work. This is to be another humanitarian and social dimension of activity in the UNESCO City of Literature Programme in which Krakow has participated since 2013. This is all the more significant because our hosting of Ms. Erdoğan will not only guarantee her a space to work, but it will also certainly influence the city’s life and culture.

Writing and Engagement

Certainly, this will not only be literary activity, although we must remember that the work of Ms. Erdoğan, who was born in 1967, has received many prizes. However, she is highly renowned for her work as a journalist, which as a result of her sociopolitical engagement has been accompanied by many controversies. The ICORN fellow has published over 200 articles (many of them are devoted to criticising Turkish politicians and the government) in both Turkish and foreign publications. Her work is very diverse: it includes novels (the first, The Sea Shell Man, was published in 1994), poetry, short stories, poetic prose and travel as well as political essays. Although her writing is ignored in her homeland, Ms. Erdoğan’s works have been translated into many languages, including: French, Danish, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Bosnian, German and Bulgarian. Such authors as Orhan Pamuk, Ingo Arend, Ruth Klüger and Eugene Schoulgin have dealt with her work; what’s more, it has been the subject of more than 100 articles, essays and dissertations published in leading newspapers and literary journals across Europe (it suffices to mention Lire, Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Die Press and Aftenposten). It is worth adding that fragments of Erdoğan’s prose were performed onstage in Milan and performed in dance theatres, and one of her short stories was even adapted into film in France. Certainly, the fact that the magazine Lire placed her on its list of “Fifty Writers of the Future,” thus recognising her works as contemporary classics.

What is interesting, this writer had previously studied computer engineering and physics, and during her academic career she even work in CERN in Geneva. She wanted to pursue a doctorate in Rio de Janeiro, although having left academic work at one point she decided to returned to Istanbul, and only then did she debut as a writer. Ms. Erdoğan is a member of PEN International as well as TYS (the Turkish Authors’ Association). She is active in the literary community, taking part in festivals, conferences and meetings around the world. Certainly, Krakow will have many opportunities to experience her versatile work.

Ms. Erdoğan’s efforts in defending the human rights of the Kurdish community had significant influence on ICORN’s decision to grant her this prestigious fellowship. In 1990, she began her literary career, and in 1998 she became a columnist for the leftist magazine Radikal, where she dealt with such painful topics as: tortures, human rights abuses in prisons, the rights of the Kurdish community and violence against women (the texts from this era were published in 2000 in the collection titled When a Journey Ends). As a response, she has frequently dealt with threats, was arrested and accused, which did not stop her from achieving success in investigative journalism. Presently, she writes for the bilingual Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem and is constantly confronted with repressions on the part of authorities. Ms. Erdoğan still faces the threat of being arrested; thus by giving her this fellowship Krakow would like to give her appropriate conditions not only to develop her work, but also to ensure her safe political refuge as well as a space for further struggles against human rights abuses.

Kraków: City of Literature, City of Refuge

The Polish city joined the ICORN network in 2011, the Year of Czesław Miłosz, and was the first member of this network in the region of East-Central Europe. ICORN, which offers refuge to writers and human rights advocates who cannot freely live and work in their own countries because of political repressions, was formed in 2005 in Norway. One of the initiators of this network was one of the most persecuted writers of the 20th century, Salman Rushdie, whose Satanic Verses led to violent protests in the Islamic world and led Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a famous fatwa, a sentence obliging every true Muslim to kill the writer, on him.

When Krakow joined ICORN, the organisation’s authorities noted that the Polish city is an important and entirely justified candidate that would serve as an excellent example for other cities in this part of Europe. Helge Lunde, Director of the ICORN network, noted that thanks to cultural traditions and a rich artistic and literary life, Krakow would be an ideal place of refuge and inspiration for persecuted artists. It considered the city’s geopolitical location as significant, calling Krakow a “Gateway to the East,” which is important from the perspective of ICORN’s interest in helping numerous writers in Poland’s eastern neighbours. Since then, Krakow has hosted three writers: Maria Amelie (whose real name is Madina Salamova, from Northern Ossetia, yet now is in Norway), Kareem Amer (Egypt, but today Sweden), Mostafa Zamaniniya (Iran) and Lawon Barszczeuski (Belarus).

ICORN creates a continually growing network of over 50 cities, and its activity is one of the strong voices in defence of freedom of speech and freedom to one’s convictions as well as international solidarity. In the ten years it has been active, ICORN has found temporary places of refuge for several hundred writers, intellectuals and bloggers. The network does not only coordinate a “shelter cities” programme, but it also cooperates with the governments of various countries and many organisations around the world, thus very tangibly fighting for freedom of speech and human rights. The refuge given to Ms. Erdoğan is fully in-line with this programme.

We have good news for all in the world of Polish literature! The Krakow City Council has ratified the Conrad Award city resolution and has decreed the formulation of a grant programme supporting the cultural activity of bookstores. During a heated discussion in the Krakow City Hall, members of the city council also discussed a resolution asking Poland’s Parliament to proceed with the Book Bill.

Thirty-nine in favour, zero against and two abstentions; 42 in favour and zero against: these numbers speak for themselves. “Thank you for this initiative, because thanks to it Krakow will enter a higher level of development,” said city council member Katarzyna Pabian evaluating the project supporting cultural activity in bookstores. There are 78 bookstores in Krakow, one-fifth fewer than three years ago, when the capital of Lesser Poland received the prestigious UNESCO City of Literature title. Recently, many of these have become local culture centres offering a distinct selection of books along with coffee, biscuits and space for social meetings, as well as meetings with authors, slide shows and film screenings. Nearly 70 events occur in the De Revolutionibus bookstore each year, as do approximately 40 in the small Bonobo bookstore at the Small Market Square. Admission to most events is free and takes the form of collaboration with students’ associations and non-government associations.

The resolution adopted by the city council obliges the mayor of Krakow to create an open contest for subsidising such activity. This is the first programme of this sort in Poland. Additionally, the resolution featured a bequest that allows bookstores to seek preferential leasing in locales in the city. Until now, only bookstores that solely sell books could do so. The city council has decided that bookstore cafes will be eligible for one-third of the standard market price. Interestingly, the initiative came from the city council members themselves. This topic was presented by Tomasz Urynowicz, a council member from Nowa Huta, a district that has been most affected by the crisis in the book market: since the closing of the popular Skarbnica (“Treasure Trove”) bookstore, the district’s 250,000 inhabitants have only one bookstore!

The Krakow City Council’s resolution has resonated in Wroclaw as well. “Krakow has noticed this problem. Perhaps our city council members will follow in their footsteps,” the administrators of the Wrocławskie Księgarnie (“Wroclaw Bookstores”) website, an association of independent booksellers from the capital of Lower Silesia, wrote. The Warsaw municipal government has also followed these developments with interest.

The city council has also established the Conrad Award, the first Polish literary distinction directed towards debutantes in the pivotal period between the appearance of their first and second books. “The uniqueness of the Conrad Award consists of its placement within the context of the book market. We do not want to create another little trophy, but we intend on accomplishing real change in the Polish literary milieu,” Grzegorz Jankowicz, Programme Director of the Conrad Festival and one of the initiators of the Conrad Award, explained. This award intends to encourage publishers to print books by new authors and to enrich the Polish book market. The figure of Joseph Conrad, a giant of world literature who began his adventure in writing precisely in Krakow, is the most fitting possible patron of the initiative.

The Conrad Award consists of a monetary prize worth 30,000 zlotys funded by the city; a monthly residential stay in Krakow guaranteed by the Book Institute; and the promotion of the winner’s work at the Conrad Festival and in the Conrad supplements published by Tygodnik Powszechny. Authors, critics, publishers and readers may nominate their candidates. The announcement of the first winner will take place at this year’s Conrad Festival.

The city council also had a lively discussion about a resolution supporting the Bill Regulating Book Prices. This discussion was part of a nationwide debate about an important bill that the Polish Parliament will soon vote on. The resolution was presented to the city council members by Robert Piaskowski, Deputy Director of Programming at the Krakow Festival Office. Based on the positive experiences of Germany, France and the majority of European nations, this resolution would obligate publishers to establish a single, consistent price of books sold through all channels – big bookstore chains and small, independent bookstores; in supermarkets and in online bookstores – for the period of one year.

“The resolution is not an expression of economic protectionism, nor does it foresee any subsidies. It is a necessary regulation of the market, which due to its nature cannot regulate itself. It is the expression of our responsibility for the book as a cultural good,” Andrzej Nowakowski, Director of the Universitas publishing house and Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Culture for Books and Readership, said.

The resolution would allow publishers to rationally calculate a book’s market price, consequently causing it to decline. This is evidenced by much data from countries that have decide to adopt such regulations. The resolultion also would encourage publishers to compete in terms of quality and allow small bookstores to find their niche on the market as well as to supplement the inventory available online and in supermarkets.

The resolution will return to the sessions of the Krakow City Council after the summer holidays. Although it would not be the prime propelling force, it would be a very clear gesture on behalf of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature supporting the years-long efforts of the book market to adopt the Book Bill.

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