April LiteraTURE bomb

April is full of all kinds of intense literary events. We really mean it; you are going to need some comfortable shoes, and maybe – just maybe – some books the exchanges in April – all three of them! The celebrations of the World Book and Copyright Day, taking place on the 22nd and 23rd of April, will be the central point of this month. Krakow – the UNESCO City of Literature will run the first Krakow Book Fair of this year, with all the booksellers and antiquarians from Krakow and from the region, so there will be a lot to choose from.

We are also going to see the Second Life of a Book – not once, not even twice, but three times: On the 23rd of April we are going to take part in a classic exchange, and apart from that there will be two additional special editions. On the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of April, we also have another large event in store for you: the celebrations of the Tranströmer Days, with meetings, poetry evenings and concerts. Additionally, from the 21st to the 26th of April, Krakow will become the centre of the 23rd Norwid Days, featuring Polend – a play by Ars Te Theatre Group and a special happening in Nowa Huta. Numerous events are also planned for the 22nd and 23rd of April, as the book stores will join forces during the Independent Bookstore Weekend, offering their visitors the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities. The IBW is a nationwide initiative, carried out in 20 Polish cities this year. April will also be a very active month for cultural centres – you should definitely check out their offer!

Selected events:

• 30th of April, starting at 3:00 p.m. – Second Life of a Book

In April, our bookworms will be able to exchange books at the Film Campus of the Off Camera Festival. The rules will remain the same as always: just bring some books – from one to ten. Books published before 1995 will be exchanged only for other books published before 1995. Those who bring new books (published after 1995) will be able to select any book from among new and old ones.

• 6th of April, starting at 6:00 p.m. – screening of Vater and meeting with its creators

The Urwany Film Foundation organises a film screening, combined with a meeting with its creators – Janusz Mika and Krzysztof Maćkowski. Vater follows the story of Horst von Wachter, son of Otton, governor of the Krakow District of the General Government. The producers emphasise that Vater is not a psychological drama, more of a psychological documentary. The filming took place at the Horst Castle in Hagenberg, in Vienna, Krakow and Lviv.

• 21st – 26th of April – The 23rd Norwid Days

This year’s edition of the festival will feature Polend – a play by Ars Te Theatre Group, a concert of Natalia Sikora, who will present songs from her latest album – Absurdustra – Próba Norwida, as well as a performance by Mateusz Kluza, author of Niksy chcą ciszy and Ethno Garden. Additionally, the Norwid Days will introduce poetry to the urban space, thanks to Norwid in Centralny. The fans of the festival will also have an opportunity to participate in Norwid Walking – an endurance march based on the theme of a journey present in the art of Cyprian Kamil Norwid.

• 22nd of April – Literary Walk around the Antique Book Stores

Grzegorz Nieć from the Pedagogical University is going to take you on an outstanding walk on the streets of the City of Literature – for the first time this year. We are going to visit corners of the city filled with inspiration, getting to know our local antiquarians, as well as other artists creating in the City of Kings.

• 22nd – 23rd of April – Krakow Book Fair

We are going to take part in the first edition of our small fair, bringing together many antiquarians and book sellers from Krakow and Małopolska. The programme will be complemented by meetings, demonstrations and workshops. The participants will learn how to operate a mimeograph used for copying opposition press in the 1980s, and how to bind artistic Rebook notebooks.

• 22nd – 23rd of April – Tranströmer Days

The event dedicated to the works of the Swedish poet, who was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature will be organised in two of the UNESCO Creative Cities – Krakow, the City of Literature and Katowice, the City of Music. The event programme will feature meetings with poetry, an evening of poetry and music and a concert titled The Funereal Gondola, starring Mikołaj Trzaska with his saxophone.

The April weekend – the 23rd and 24th of April – will be a great celebration of books and literature. On this occasion, the Voivodeship Public Library in Krakow and the Marshal’s Office of Małopolska Region would like to invite everyone to yet another edition of the Book and Rose Małopolska Book Days, with Krakow Festival Office as a partner of the event.

The main goal of the campaign is to promote readership in the region. The project also reminds everyone that a book can be a wonderful gift. Every year, the Małopolska Book Days are attended by dozens of book stores and libraries from all over the region, organising a wide variety of events with the aim of promoting readership, authors and new releases.

Like every year, numerous attractions will await the attendees of the “Book and Rose”. On the 23rd of April, the Voivodeship Public Library in Krakow organises a Literary Family Picnic, and on the next day the guests will be able to attend a meeting with Beata Bochińska, as well as critical writing workshop with Jarosław Czechowicz. Throughout Małopolska, workshops and meetings will take place in book stores and libraries. Together with the Partner of the event – Krakow Festival Office – we would also like to invite everyone to the Św. Marii Magdaleny Square, where the Krakow Book Fair will be held, starting on the 22nd of April.

The Fair will be organised by the Voivodeship Public Library in Krakow and the Marshal’s Office of Małopolska Region, with Krakow Festival Office as a partner of the event.

The honorary patronage over the event was assumed by: Book Institute, Chamber of Polish Bookselling, Association of Polish Librarians.

Media patronage: TVP3 Kraków, Radio Kraków, Gazeta Wyborcza, Czasdzieci.pl.

You can find news and information about all the events taking place in Małopolska at: ksiazkairoza.pl and rajska.info

Even though the buds have not yet opened into leaves, we already have the first signs of literary spring here in Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature. On the 22nd and 23rd of April, on World Book and Copyright Day, the Krakow Book Fair will take place in Marii Magdaleny Square. As always, the cosy marketplace will attract the antiquarians and booksellers from Krakow and the entire region.

The participants will be able to participate in workshops, lectures, bookbinding demonstrations, we will also offer coffee and snacks. The Cervantes Institute, as well as book stores and libraries from Krakow and Małopolska will also prepare their attractions for the most literary weekend of this spring. Come and join us!

ATTENTION: Due to the bad weather forecast The Krakow Book Fair will take place in Wyspiański Pavillion (Wszystkich Świętych 2 Square).

The Krakow Book Fair is a regular, open-air event, promoting the idea of trading used book and reminding everyone that a good book does not have an expiration date. This year, we have planned four editions of the Fair! On the 22nd and 23rd of April, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. we are going to see the offerings of Abecadło, Hulaj Pole, Suszek, 451 stopni and Świat w Tunelu, Fankomiks comic book store, Szafa Pełna Książek from Podgórze, as well as booksellers known from the Sunday mornings at the Market Hall.

The programme of the April fair will be complemented by meetings, demonstrations and workshops – the participants will learn how to operate a mimeograph used for copying opposition press in the 1980s, and how to bind artistic Rebook notebooks. We will also offer a comic book drawing workshop, the staff of Księgarnia pod Globusem book store will read fairy tales to the youngest participants, while the older ones will be able to attend an interesting lecture about post-war messianic literature and a special walk around the Krakow antique book stores, led by Grzegorz Nieć from the Pedagogical University.

Since the 23rd and 24th of April will also bring the 16th Book and Rose Malopolska Book Days, the Voivodeship Public Library in Krakow will also invite the participants to their stand. Celebrating the Cervantes Award – dubbed the “Spanish Nobel Prize” – being handed out to Eduardo Mendoza, the nearby Cervantes Institute will also hold an open day on Sunday, 23rd of April. At the fair, the visitors will also be able to drink coffee from the stylish Italian Kavke Cafe car, as well as eat some hummus Amamamusi and roasted chestnuts sold by Pan Kasztan

An intense programme is prepared by Krakow’s book stores for the World Book Day. Many events were planned for the national Independent Bookstore Weekend by Księgarnia Pod Globusem and Pod Szesnastką, Lokator, De Revolutionibus Books & Café, Bonobo Księgarnia Kawiarnia Podróżnicza and many more. The Independent Bookstore Weekend is a grassroots initiative started by book sellers, which will take place in 20 Polish cities this year. On the second half of April we are also going to see the launches of cultural projects carried out as part of the first municipal programme aimed at supporting cultural activities at book stores.

More details will be announced soon.

Krakow Book Fair
programme of events in Wyspiański Pavillion

22nd of April (Saturday)

1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Printing some illegal papers! The demonstration of mimeograph will be conducted by Leszek Jaranowski, opposition activist in the 1980s.

12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. – a walk around book stores. Discover Szpitalna – the book street, as well as other interesting places on the literary map of Krakow… and the people who run these places. The walk will be led by Grzegorz Nieć from the Pedagogical University. Mandatory registration: spacery@miastoliteratury.pl, the point of assembly will be provided in a reply to the registration. The number of participants is limited.

3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – “Save Poland, resurrect the world” – a lecture on post-war messianism. Do you think that “40 and 4” was awaited only by the generation contemporary to Adam Mickiewicz? You could not be more wrong! The unknown face of the post-war emigration literature will be discussed by Paweł Chojnacki, historian and philosopher.

23rd of April (Sunday)

12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Fairy Tales. We are reading fairy tales with book sellers!

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – open comic book drawing workshop. The workshop will be conducted by Michał Jankowski – originator and coordinator of the Małopolska Comic Book Studio. Admission is free upon registration at the Fair.

4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. – book-binding demonstration. Binding Rebooks – hand-made, artistic notebooks with covers from old books. The participants will be able to purchase the notebooks.

NOTE: These are not all of the attractions planned for this special weekend – stay tuned for more surprises in our communication channels. More details soon!

Read more about the Independent Bookstore Weekend: here.
The 16th Book and Rose Małopolska Book Days: here.

Four festival days filled with meetings with authors, debuts, and concerts, as well as reading and commenting poetry. On the 8th – 11th of June this year, Krakow is once again slated to become the world’s capital of poetry, providing an opportunity to meet the most prominent Polish artists, including Adam Zagajewski, Ewa Lipska, Anna Piwkowska, Marcin Świetlicki, as well as guests from three continents, such as: Antjie Krog (South Africa), Linn Hansén (Sweden), Evelyn Schlag (Austria), Petr Hruška (Czech Republic), Joachim Sartorius (Germany) and Robert Pinsky (USA). Krzysztof Siwczyk, a poet and a literary critic, serves the role of an artistic director of the Festival.

The motto of this year’s edition of the festival comes from a collection of sketches and translations by Czesław Miłosz titled Zaczynając od moich ulic (Beginning with my streets, published in 1985 by the Literary Institute in Paris). “Czesław Miłosz diagnosed the times he lived in, drawing from a thoroughly individual experience. Without the intimacy of the lyrical ‘I’, there cannot be any ‘you’, ‘us’ or ‘them’” said Krzysztof Siwczyk. “Without a quiet, private language, it is difficult to understand the languages of rebellion, love, ideology, gods and death. Without self-analysis, we will not achieve anything in the world that is, first and foremost, our own street and view from our window. It is our own limitation, weakness, shame and loneliness. Was Czesław Miłosz a poet of privacy? What does it mean – to be a private poet? How should we protect that uniqueness from the violence of the conventions of life? These are only some of the questions to be asked during this year’s Miłosz Festival.”

As is tradition, the festival will also serve as a meeting of all kinds of poetic personalities and outstanding literary individuals. “In Krakow, we are going to hear their common language, discussed and established in a dialogue, often striving for discordant interests. Each poet lives on different streets, each of them looks through a window on their own sky. Thus, we will ask them about the similarities of these streets and the skies. Who knows, perhaps we will be able to – at least for a moment – live and find ourselves in some intimate universe?” said Olga Brzezińska, head of the City of Literature Foundation, who organises the festival in collaboration with the Krakow Festival Office.

Every bookworm, especially those with a special affinity for poetry, is in for four intense days filled with meetings, debates, reading and commenting poems, as well as concerts, plays and films. Additionally, the audience will once again participate in the Wisława Szymborska Award ceremony – the prize will be handed out for the second time.

“Thanks to our strategic partnerships with numerous entities, including the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, the festival has grown to become a significant voice in a debate about the future of readership in Poland”, said Magdalena Łukasik, deputy director of Krakow Festival Office. “Thanks to the presence of authors from all around the world, for the duration of the Miłosz Festival Krakow turns into a centre of the world of poetry, where poems are discussed in numerous languages of the world, and which is worth visiting during the four days.”

Among the events of the festival is the long-awaited meeting with Robert Pinsky, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet and a translator of the works of Czesław Miłosz, gathered in a volume titled The Separate Notebooks. Krakow will be also visited by German poet Joachim Sartorius – laureate of the Scheerbart Prize for translating contemporary American poetry, member of the German Academy of Language and Literature, as well as Antjie Krog from South Africa, author of numerous volumes of poetry, prose and dramatic works. Linn Hansén – a poet and editor-in-chief of Glänta cultural magazine, collaborating with the Göteborg Poetry Festival and Queer Literature Festival will also come to us from Sweden. The City of Kings will also welcome: Petr Hruška – one of the most praised Czech poets in the post-1989 era, co-organiser of numerous literary evenings, festivals and exhibitions in Ostrava, as well as Austrian poet Evelyn Schlag.

ANNOUNCEMENT: In collaboration with a5, Instytut Mikołowski, Lokator, Wydawnictwo Literackie and Wydawnictwo Znak publishing houses, five volumes of poetry including Polish translations of the works of our foreign guests (Linn Hansén, Petr Hruška, Antjie Krog, Robert Pinsky and Joachim Sartorius) will be prepared and published specially for the festival.

Crowds of readers will certainly come to the meetings with distinguished authors: Adam Zagajewski and Ewa Lipska. The festival will also offer an opportunity to meet Anna Piwkowska – a poet and author of a book of essays about the life and art of Anna Akhmatova, as well as Marta Eloy Cichocka – a poet, translator and laureate of a scholarship of Michel d’Ornano Foundation and Urszula Zajączkowska – a poet, botanist and visual artist, often referred to as a conscious “poet of nature”. The reading and commenting sessions will be also attended by Karol Maliszewski – a Nike nominee, poet, photographer, essayist and art critic, Wojciech Wilczyk and Marcin Sendecki – a poet nominated for many prestigious awards, connected in the 1980s and the 1990s with bruLion magazine.

The opening “Miłosz Lecture” will be given by Professor Tadeusz Sławek – a poet, translator, essayist, literary expert and academic teacher. Also planned are three debates: on the intimacy of languages, on the myth of an artist in the culture of narcissism, and – traditionally – a debate on the art of translation. As every year, the festival will also be an opportunity to attend workshops on translation and literary criticism, conducted by Michał Nogaś, Paulina Małochleb and Justyna Sobolewska, as well as poetry workshops for children.

During the festival, the audience will also have an opportunity to participate in a premiere performance of a play titled Po wygnaniu (After Exile) by Tomasz Cyz, based on the poetry by Czesław Miłosz, produced by the City of Literature Foundation and Teatr Nowy Proxima. The festival will also move outside the halls and auditoriums, thanks to the projects included in the Off Miłosz section. More details will be announced soon.

We also have something in store for the fans of music, including two special concerts: Julia i Nieprzyjemni feat. Marcin Świetlicki and Pablopavo i Ludziki. Tickets will be available soon.

Festival is organised by: The City of Kraków, Krakow Festival Office and City of Literature Foundation.

MORE AT WWW.MILOSZFESTIVAL.PL

The festival was financed from the funds of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Krakow – IFEA World Festival & Event City 2016

Yesterday, the International Book Fair in London, where Poland was featured for the first time as the market focus country – the honorary guest of the show – ended. The presentation of Polish literature would not be complete without some significant accents from Krakow, and there were many of them. First was the Conrad Seminar preceding the Fair, complemented by a discussion about translations of Conrad’s works, featuring Magdalena Heydel from the UNESCO Chair for Translation Studies and Intercultural Communication of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The name of Joseph Conrad was mentioned many times and in a variety of contexts, since this year marks the 160th anniversary of the artist’s birth.

The meetings with Jacek Dukaj and Olga Tokarczuk – two artists published in Krakow – also enjoyed great popularity. Antonia Lloyed-Jones, one of the most prolific translators of Polish literature into English emphasised that being a market focus country during the LBF is a perfect opportunity to increase the recognisability of these artists in the world. Jacek Dukaj confessed that although he personally dislikes speaking publicly and considers all promotional activities as not befitting the profession of a writer, he fully understands and appreciates the significance of the activities in London.

Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature was also featured at the Polish exhibition stand, alongside Krakow Book Fair. The full range of literary events in Krakow, starting from Conrad Festival and Miłosz Festival, to campaigns such as ReadPL! was presented during the industry section. The representatives from the city of Nanjing were also interested in Krakow’s presence during the London Book Fair, since the Chinese city recently began its efforts to receive the UNESCO City of Literature title based on the Krakow model.

Next year’s LBF will see the Baltic States as the honorary guests of the event.

You can read more about the London Book Fair here.

Editors working for the most prominent publishing houses in Poland will join us for the new series of meetings organised by the Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature, with aspiring writers in mind. The first meeting, which will take place on the 29th of March at De Revolutionibus, will be devoted to fiction, and Maria Kula – the host of the meeting – will be joined by Agata Pieniążek representing Znak Literanova, responsible for selecting works to be published. The meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. sharp!

The communication between the writers and publishing houses tends to be complicated, as the aspiring writers often do not understand the expectations of the publishers. They often submit their works blindly, which results in receiving no answers at all – this results in increasing frustration. On the other hand, every day, publishers are swamped with dozens of book proposals that are totally not in line with their expectations. Their frustration also grows at a pace that is proportional to the ever-diminishing chance of finding a promising debut among thousands of e-mails.

It’s time to cooperate! In the new series of meetings initiated by Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature, both sides will meet and start working together. After all, they are bound by common goal – they want to publish books that will win over the hearts of thousands of readers.

Do you want to write and publish your books? Do not miss these meetings! The knowledge you will find there will help you to better plan your career, give you some new ideas for the texts which might be interesting for the publishers and save you from disappointment connected with rejecting your creation.

You will:

• learn what kind of books are the publishers looking for,
• take a peek behind the scenes of the publishing world and learn what you should know as an author,
• see what happens to the manuscript after being received by a publishing house,
• learn what is the best way to present the text you are submitting to a publisher,
• get to know the job of an editor and see how the author and editor work together.

Agata Pieniążek currently works for Znak Literanova publishing house, where she deals with acquiring and working with Polish authors, publishing both novels, as well as non-fiction books. She initiated the Proza.PL series, which featured Nike Award-nominated books by Magdalena Tulli, Sylwia Chutnik and Zośka Papużanka, as well as the Conrad Award-winning Dom z witrażem (The House with the Stained-Glass Window) by Żanna Słoniowska. She also had her hand in publishing the famous novel Najgorszy człowiek na świecie by Małgorzata Halber, Idealna – a best-selling thriller and the first book of Magda Stachula and Ptaki drapieżne – a bold interview with Lucjan “Sęp” Wiśniewski, the last liquidator of the Home Army counterintelligence.

Maria Kula is an editor who works individually with the authors. Since 2014 she has been conducting workshops and creative writing courses, as well as running the Novel Writing School based on her own programme. Recently, she also started the On-Line Writing Club. She promotes reading and writing thanks to a series of articles on writing, as well as numerous creative events.

The London Book Fair – one of the most important meeting of the publishing industry in the world – starts today, on the 14th of March. This year, the prestigious role of the so-called Market Focus, or honorary guest, will be Poland. We are also there, and you can find us at the Polish stand, run by the Book Institute and British Council.

The London Book Fair is another great challenge, but also an opportunity to present the great strength of Krakow – literature – abroad. The programme of the Fair was divided into several thematic blocks: a cultural and industry programme, as well as a special presentation – PubTechPoland – taking place on the Polish exhibition. The representatives of the Krakow Festival Office will promote local initiatives and literary events taking place in Krakow. They will also take part in discussions and industry meetings. The voice of the KBF will be also heard during the PubTechPoland presentation, where they will present both Miłosz Festival and Conrad Festival, both listed among the most important literary events in the world.

The appearance of Poland as the honorary guest of the International Book Fair in London is accompanied by an extensive literary and industry programme. As part of the events, the most interesting and important phenomena present in Polish literature, as well as trends and directions of development of the Polish book market will be presented to the British audience. In London, we are going to meet the most important Polish publishing houses, as well as eleven Polish writers, including: Jacek Dehnel (Lala and Mother Makryna), Artur Domosławski (Śmierć w Amazonii and Wykluczeni, as well as the famous biography of Ryszard Kapuściński), Marta Ignerska (co-author of Wszystko gra and Alfabet), Marzanna Bogumiła Kielar (Monodia and Materia prima), Olga Tokarczuk (The Books of Jacob) and Ewa Winnicka (Londyńczycy and Angola).

Apart from the fair in Frankfurt, the London Book Fair is the most important industry event in the world. Every year, 1500 publishers on average present their offer to the 25 000 guests visiting the fair – mostly people connected with the publishing industry.

Read more here.

Only less than two months – until May 2nd – are left to submit books that will compete for the Conrad Award, a literary prize considered to be the most important distinction for debuting prose writers. From the submissions of first books published in 2016, the jury will name five nominees, after which our readers will have the opportunity to decide the winner by participating in an on-line plebiscite. The name of the winner will be revealed in October during the final gala of this year’s Conrad Festival. We are waiting for your submissions! The prizes are well worth it – the laureate will receive a cheque worth 30 000 PLN and a month’s residence stay in Krakow. The winning book will be also promoted in Tygodnik Powszechny.

The Conrad Award is a part of the municipal programme for supporting debuts in Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature, and is a joint venture of the City of Krakow, Krakow Festival Office, Book Institute and Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation, established in order to promote new voices in Polish literature, inspire interest of wide audience in new books on the Polish market, as well as support the young writers in the difficult period between releasing the first and second book. Last year’s winner of the Conrad Award was Żanna Słoniowska with her novel Dom z witrażem (The House with the Stained-Glass Window, published by Wydawnictwo Znak Literanova).

Only the books published in 2016 are eligible to participate in this year’s edition of the contest. They will be read thoroughly by the Jury, which as always comprises: Prof. Michał Paweł Markowski (president of the Jury), Urszula Chwalba, Inga Iwasiów, Grzegorz Jankowicz, Zofia Król, Michał Nogaś, Krzysztof Koehler and Joanna Szulborska-Łukaszewicz (secretary), who will select five nominees. The winner will be decided by the readers in an on-line plebiscite. The official award ceremony will be a part of the Conrad Festival – an event distinguished by Penguin Random House as one of twenty literary events worth visiting. Additionally, during the festival, which coincides with the last days of the plebiscite, the readers will have an opportunity to meet the nominees.

We are waiting for your submissions until the 2nd of May 2017.

The submission should contain the title of a book, its author, publishing house, year of publishing and ISBN. Please note that every submission should also contain seven copies of the book.

The submissions can be delivered in person to the Magistrate Office of the Krakow Municipal Office at Plac Wszystkich Świętych 3-4 (ground floor), or sent by post to: Wydział Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego Urzędu Miasta Krakowa Plac Wszystkich Świętych 11, 31-004 Kraków. Please put the “Conrad Award label on the envelope (in the case of submissions sent by mail, the postmark date will be considered binding).

You can find the rules here.

On the 25th and 26th of March, Krakow will host the 6th edition of the Comic Book Festival – an open and free event for children, youth and their parents – everyone who loves comic books. It will be a unique opportunity to discover new comic books and their authors!

The programme includes many interesting events: a comic book fair, workshops, lectures, film screenings, a comic book battle, as well as meetings with authors from Poland and abroad. Among the special guests of the festival are Bédu, a Belgian artist and scriptwriter, author of the famous Hugo series, as well as Søren Mosdal, a Danish comic book artist, author of Erik the Red: King of Winter.

The festival is organised by: Krakow Comic Book Association (Krakowskie Stowarzyszenie Komiksowe), Voivodeship Public Library in Krakow and Krakow Festival Office.

Join the Facebook event!