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Let’s read poetry with the Miłosz Festival

It’s time for the great festival premiere! In cooperation with publishing houses: a5, Instytut Mikołowski , Lokator Media, Wydawnictwo Literackie and Znak , Polish translations of works by five our guests from abroad: Linn Hansén, Petr Hruška, Antjie Krog, Robert Pinsky and Joachim Sartorius will be released. The books will be on sale in Bona Bookshop (11 Kanonicza Street).

Linn Hansénwas for many years the curator of the Poetry Festival in Gothenburg. She actively supports asylum seekers. She builds her poetry from various statements, questions and slogans, which seem to be unrelated, but as a whole describe a gap between the individual and the system. The Polish translation of her volume by Justyna Czechowska, titled Przejdź do historii is about to be published by Lokator Media.

Selected poems by another prominent guest of the Festival – Petr Hruška, a Czech poet, scriptwriter and literary critic, have been prepared by Instytut Mikołowski. Hruška is a co-organiser of literary soirées, festivals and exhibitions in Ostrava. He is one of the best known Czech poets after 1989. He is said to be a poet of unrest and hidden threate of the everyday life. His volume under the Polish title DARMATY was translated by Franciszek Nastulczyk.

Antjie Krog is a poet, a writer, a journalist and an academic of Afrikaner descent. She authored many volumes of poetry, prose and drama. Her first poem was published in a school newsletter and came as a shock for the conservative Afrikaner environment as a strong voice against the Apartheid politics. A volume of her poetry under the Polish title Ciało ograbione translated by Jerzy Koch will be published by Wydawnictwo Literackie.

We also look forward to seeing the Polish premiere publication of poetry by Robert Pinsky – an American poet, essayist, literary critic and translator, whose Polish translations by Stanisław Barańczak, Mieczysław Godyń, Renata Gorczyńska, Agata Hołobut, Justyn Hunia and Adam Szostkiewicz are released by SIW ZNAK in the volume entitled Terrarium dla snów.

The German-born poet, lawyer and diplomat – Joachim Sartorius – is also a guest of the Festival. He held numerous posts connected with international cultural policy – he was the Secretary General at the Goethe Institute and the artistic director of Berlin Festival. His poems from the volume under the Polish title Zegar szronu have been translated by Ryszard Krynicki and published by Wydawnictwo a5.

Tomiki Festiwalu Miłosza 2017

Traditionally, we have prepared for all festival guests our Polish-English:

ALMANACH –a guide to events connected with this special celebration of poetry. In addition to programme details, you will also find here information about the works by our guests from abroad and excerpts from their poetry.

JERUSALEM WITHIN REACH. THE LITERARY STREAM IN THE 27THE JEWISH CULTURE FESTIVAL

For the third time already the Krakow Festival Office, the operator of Krakow UNESCO City of Literature, is involved in the Jewish Culture Festival, inviting to its literary section. During the nine days of the Festival we will have for you opportunities for interesting talks and discussions, art and printing workshops, a special walk of Kazimierz with Łukasz Orbitowski, a meeting with Wojciech Jagielski and a talk with Charles King about his monograph Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul recently published in Poland.

The leading theme of the 27th Jewish Culture Festival, the greatest festival presenting culture created by Jews all over the world is Jerusalem. The events of the literary stream under the title Common Jerusalem – Jerusalem of Communities will focus on Jerusalem as an archetype of a divided city , while at the same time a city of reconciliation, the spiritual source of several religions, cultures and civilisations, in which history constantly interweaves with the myth, and which has to deal with the problems and challenges of the contemporary world.

The first meeting under the literary stream at the 27th Jewish Culture Festival will be a talk with Wojciech Jagielski on Sunday (25 June). The author of the memorable Modlitwa o deszcz and Wypalanie traw will discuss the development of conflicts and the future of reportage in the time of post-truth.

A day later the Jewish Culture festival will host Charles King – an American historian, expert in the history of Eastern Europe and Russia, the author of two monographs of Istanbul and Odessa published in Poland by Wydawnictwo Czarne.We will leave Jerusalem for a while to move to the Bosphorus, another multicultural melting pot personifying the complex fate of Europe and Asia. The meeting At Midnight in the Eye of the World will be moderated by Max Cegielski, whose own experience from his stay in the largest city of Turkey will set a context for the discussion.

The next meeting will be devoted to the Jerusalem syndrome – a mysterious mental disorder which affects a few dozen pilgrims to Jerusalem every year. The scientific point of view will be confronted with Paweł Smoleński’s personal experience he covered in his book Izrael już nie frunie. At the meeting planned for 28 June: The Views of Jerusalem, during which we will discuss in what way mass tourism influences the atmosphere of holy sites and how today’s residents of Jerusalem deal with it.

On the premiere of the Polish edition of Yehuda Amichai’s volume Open Closed Open (Otwarte, zamknięte, otwarte), the Festival invites to a special afternoon meeting devoted to this unique poet and many times candidate to the Nobel Prize in Literature, who was connected with Jerusalem all of his grown up life. During the meeting with his widow Hana Amichai and the translator of his poetry volume Tomasz Korzeniowski, Jerzy Trela will readAmichai’s poems.

The workshops will complement the literary stream. The youngest readers are invited to the art-calligraphy workshops led by Daria Solak, the author of illustrations to the book Ala ma kota. A Ali?, in which they will learn some sentences in a few dozens of more or less exotic world languages. On 1 and 2 July, the children will create Jerusalem keepsake notebooks in Józef Rakoczy’s special printing shop at the Museum of Municipal Engineering. At the end of the Festival we will go on a special walk of Kazimierz together with Łukasz Orbitowski – one of the most famous Polish writers, who was born and raised in the district that was once the heart of Jewish Krakow. The Sunday walk will be a unique opportunity to became acquainted with Kazimierz before the eruption of the tourism boom at the turn of the 20th and the 21st centuries, and to see the sites Orbitowski described in his story written for the project O_KAZ. Literatura o Kazimierzu.

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The organiser of the literary stream of the Jewish Culture Festival is the Krakow Festival Office, the operator of Krakow UNESCO City of Literature.

From 9 to 11 June the ICE Kraków Congress Centre will host the 4th World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature.The event organised by the Book Institute is first of all a feast of translators who are the best ambassadors of our literature. The congress is a way to thank them for their work, but it is also an opportunity for them to acquaint themselves with the recent trends in Polish literature and intellectual life, the works of value and their authors. The congress is held every fourth year. This year it will host almost 300 guests. The Krakow Festival Office, the operator of Krakow UNESCO City of Literature, is a partner in the event.

Three days of the Congress will be filled with 36 workshops, panels and meetings with authors, publishers and critics. The World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature is the greatest international event devoted to translators. Owing to their personal commitment translations of Polish books are released. The translators suggest Polish literature to the publishers and spare no effort to promote the authors. They are the best allies of the writers and the ambassadors of Polish literature. Living in a different linguistic reality on a daily basis, translators build bridges between cultures. Their effort is not to be underestimated.

THE TRANSALTIANTIC AWARD WILL BE GIVEN DURING THE EVENT FOR THE 13TH TIME TO AN OUSTANDING PROMOTER OF POLISH LITERATURE ABROAD. HIS OR HER NAME WILL BE REVEALED ON FRIDAY (9 JUNE) AT THE GREAT GALA IN THE JULIUSZ SŁOWACKI THEATRE IN KRAKOW, WHICH WILL BE BROADCASTED BY TVP KULTURA.

The first World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature was held in 2005. 174 translators from 50 countries participated in the congress. Four years later we hosted 215 translators from 56 countries. In 2013 nearly 250 guests accepted our invitation. This year we will host nearly 230 translators from 46 countries, translating our literature into 40 languages.

In a few days (on the weekend from 10 to11 June) a book fair will be held on the picturesque Św. Marii Magdaleny Square. During the Miłosz Festival a dozen or so antique book sellers and bouquinistes from Krakow and the region will showcase their offer. Classical prose, good comic strips, iconic albums on art, and first of all poetry, will be presented. Literary Emergency Department will come to rescue non-practicing readers. Poetry reading in the open-air will also be offered under the OFF Miłosz stream of the Festival. Traditionally, we will also care for some food to nourish the body. You may also linger on a deckchair reviewing new acquisitions.

The Krakow Book Fair is a periodic, small-scale event organised by the Krakow Festival Office – the operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature programme. The Office wants to restore used books to their former splendour and to remind the readers that good literature never grows old. During the second edition of the book fair in this year some antique book shops: Hulaj Pole, Abecadło, Szafa Pełna Książek, Suszek and 451 stopni, hobbyist bookshops Fankomiks and American Bookstore, as well as bouquinistes, who can be met on Sunday morning next to Hala Targowa market and daily in the underground passage by Jubilat Department Store will set up their stalls on Saturday and Sunday from 11.00 am – 6.00 pm on Św. Marii Magdaleny Square .

There will be a lot of opportunities for discussion – on Saturday 10 June from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm under the Literary Emergency Department campaign, experts from Czas Dzieci Foundation, dressed in doctor’s lab coats will offer good reading tips. In connection with the Miłosz Festival which begins on 8 June, we will focus on poetryOn Sunday, 11 June, at 2.00 pm under OFF Miłosz stream of the Festival, the holders of Visegrad Residency scholarships at Villa Decius and the residency programme of Krakow UNESCO City of Literature will read poetry in the open air . Throughout the entire week you will also see a bike of the Flying Reading Room of the Voivodeship Public Library in Krakow on the site, offering a lot of books to lend for free and without keeping the deadline to return.

If you are hungry or thirsty, you can have a coffee and ice-creams offered by the stylish Kavke Cafe van and delicious hummus prepared by Hummus Amamamusi.

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The June fair is part of the Days of Krakow, which will rule the city from the 3rd to the 25th of June, reviving the great tradition initiated by Jerzy Dobrzycki in 1936.

The organiser of the Krakow Book Fair is the Krakow Festival Office, the operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature programme.

Don’t miss out!

On the 1st of June on the Children’s Day we had a meeting with Adam Wajrak, a journalist, a naturalist and an author of many books for children and adults, who lives in the Białowieża Forest. 
The weather and the atmosphere of the meeting were equally warm. We talked about dogs – our lesser brothers — and about Lolek, the lead character of Wajrak’s new book published under our patronage. The author has been honoured with the medal of the Nature Protection League and is an honorary citizen of the Birds’ Republic.

Spotkanie z Adamem Wajrakiem

Last Saturday, on the 27th of May, we had a walk along the children’s literature trail, in which readers’ families with children participated. We followed the traces of children’s literature in Krakow, following Antonina Domańska’s Paziowie króla Zygmunta and Historia żółtej ciżemki, the alchemist Sędziwój from Jadwiga Żylińska’s book, as well as children characters from books by Dorota Terakowska and Barbara Gawryluk. Magdalena Skrabska – the author of children’s books about Wawel – also joined the tour guided by Łucja Malec-Kornajew.

Spacer szlakiem literatury dziecięcej, fot. Agnieszka Mermon

A literary family walk around Krakow, fot. Agnieszka Mermon

From the 31st of May to the 2nd of June, the Conference of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) is held in Lillehammer , Norway, combined with the PEN International Conference. More than 300 writers, artists, activists, city representatives and other guests form 60 countries participate in sessions, workshops, literature reading and concerts. The conference titled ”In Other Words” will deal with such themes as the freedom of expression, security and human rights. Plans for the network development will also be discussed.

Krakow will be represented by Justyna Jochym, who will present two ongoing projects carried out by the Krakow Festival Office, the operator of the ICORN programme. Anchoring ICORN is aimed at promoting the network and encouraging cities to join its membership. Engage! Young Producers offers the youth a chance for expression and creative development.

Krakow joined the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN )in 2011. Since that time, as an active member of the network, it has given a shelter to six writers persecuted in their homelands.

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