fbpx

We invite youth to May meetings with Literature

In may participants in literary events will be offered a rich programme: from the Jan Błoński Festival, through workshops, events for children, meet-the-author series, to book-crossing events. We invite you to a column-writing workshop under the Creative Writing Course. This time you will meet the writer who is not afraid to deal with important themes – Sylwia Chutnik, who will share her expertise about how to write a good feature article. The Miłosz Festival invites you to a free two-day workshop for bloggers and critics to be held in Krakow on 20 and 21 May. The workshop will be run by Paulina Małochleb – a literary critic and researcher, the Secretary of the Wisława Szymborska Award. This spring month will also offer a perfect opportunity for refreshing your book collection while on a walk to the Vistula, taking part in The Second Life of a Book at Powiśle 11 Pavilion. Until October passengers of municipal transport can also use unique bus/tram stop shelters which were set up on the occasion of the World Book and Copyright Day and. Find bus/tram stops decorated in honour of Krakow’s prominent literary figures: Joseph Conrad, the Krakow Avant-Garde, Stanisław Lem and Stanisław Wyspiański. The stops have been designed by outstanding artists and are scattered around the city.

Selected events:

  • 14 May on 11:00 am – UNESCO City of Literature Creative Writing Course

A workshop in column writing will be run in May. This time the participants will meet the writer who dares to address important themes, write what she really thinks and ask difficult questions. Her language and literary style will meet the most sophisticated critic’s tastes. The author is Sylwia Chutnik who will share her expertise in writing a good column.

  • 20-21 May – Miłosz Festival 2017 workshop

The Miłosz Festival invites to a free two-day workshop for bloggers and critics. The workshop will be run by Paulina Małochleb – a literary critic and researcher, the Secretary of the Wisława Szymborska Award. Please register sending your new text or a link to an already published text and contact details until Monday (8 May), to the following address warsztaty@fundacjamiastoliteratury.pl

  • 21 May from 3:00 pm on – The Second Life of a Book

In May, book lovers will have the opportunity to participate in a book swap in the Pavilion Powiśle 11. The rules have remained unchanged: just bring one to ten books with you. Publications issued before 1995 can we swapped for books published until 1995. If you bring a new book with you, you can choose whatever you like from new and older volumes.

  • 25-26 May – Jan Błoński Festival

On the 30the anniversary of the publication of Błoński’s essay Biedni Polacy patrzą na getto (The Poor Poles Look at the Ghetto), the festival will focus on the importance of literature and literary criticism of collective and individual remembrance. Meetings and discussions will be devoted to the image of the Shoah and the place of history in modern literature and to similar themes.

literatura_maj-2017

Take a look at the photo gallery from the Krakow premiere of The Film about Pilch which was given at Pod Baranami Cinema on 18 April 2017.

A story about an outstanding writer, publicist and screenwriter, the portrait of one of the most outstanding contemporary prose writers, the winners of many awards in literature. The story consists of interviews with the writer’s friends and the writer himself. The Film about Pilch had its premiere at Pod Baranami Cinema on 18 April (Tuesday) at 7.00 pm. We could see the film creators and the writer’s friends on the red carpet. Before the film screening, a meeting was held with the director Adam Lewandowski, the author of the famous biography Pilch w sensie ścisłym (Pilch in the Strict Sense) Katarzyna Kubisiowska and Maciej Jakubowiak. Małgorzata I. Niemczyńska, a journalist moderated the discussion.

10 busy weekends, 16 trainers, 100 hrs of classes, 25 lectures and workshops with Katarzyna Bonda, Mariusz Czubaj, Katarzyna Puzyńska and others – this was, in brief, the second edition of the UNESCO City of Literature Course in Creative Writing of Crime Stories. We are proud to present the product of the course, i.e. our Anthology of stories by our 12 participants in classes that were held from September 2016 to January 2017. The Krakow Festival Office is the Course organiser

When organising the second edition of the City of Literature Creative Writing Course, devoted exclusively to crime stories, we devised an intensive course for twelve participants to prepare them for an aggressive marketing on the publishing market. During ten weekend session the young writers met with Katarzyna Bonda, Katarzyna Puzyńska and Mariusz Czubaj. They listened to lectures given by the writers, participated in activities with a creativity psychologist, an expert in copyright, were offered consultations with leading editors who work for Krakow-based publishing houses, discussions with literary critics, and presentations by an expert in public speech and a specialist in literature marketing. Even a police profiler was involved, talking about the creation of credible characteristics of a crime novel hero. Editing exercises and hard work under the guidance of Filip Modrzejewski, an editor working for W.A.B publishers ,who has cooperated with Zygmunt Miłoszowski for years. Our course participants found him an invaluable guide to show how to create a real jewel in this genre of novel.

The last project – writing a crime story based on what they had learned – was test of the young writers; aptitude. As a result you can find twelve extraordinary stories in our Anthology which you can read on the Course website (www.pisz.miastoliteratury.pl).

The book begins with four award-winning stories. Bartek Borucki Astronauci is a literary reference to Whiplash!, i.e. a sophisticated story about a very special; artistic and musical adventure. Paweł Graczak’s Przez krew is a story going beyond a classical crime story genre, skilfully combining thriller and a horror story. Joanna Łopusińska’s Zderzacz albo zimowa opowieść is a well-thought-out, slowly unfolding narrative puzzle with a splendidly sketched real life background.. Jakub Trzeciak’s intriguing, full-blooded story Demony shows that the young writer promises to grow up to become a popular author.

All the Course participants whose stories can be read in our Anthology are highly recommended to readers and publishers. We strongly believe that the will match the success of the participant in our first Course edition – Ashen Rid Hassan – who has already cooperated with three publishing houses and the greatest Polish literary agency, Book Lab. His books – his debut Weimar ([published by Novae Res), the fantasy novel Trupojad i dziewczyna (published by. Genius Creations), as well as the story Eksplozje (published by Wielka Litera) have earned him a faithful group of readers, showing that good writing is a skill to be learned. We believe that the participants in this year’s edition will have similarly impressive achievements. So get down to reading!

kbf-antologia-2017-1

Kurs Pisania Kryminałów: Antologia 2017

The curriculum of the course was conceived by Karolina Macios and Magdalena Zielińska – highly experienced editors what a many-year experience. The course is part of our programme in support of literary debuts in Krakow as a UNESCO City of Literature. The annual Conrad Award for the best debut is also part of the programme to pave them the way to further literary career, as well as monthly weekend workshops for prose writers, journalists and reporters which organised under the Creative Writing Course. Young writers can also participate in open meetings with editors who acquire Polish prose for the largest publishing houses, an experience which will certainly expand their knowledge.. All the above-mentioned events herald the third edition of the Creative Writing Course to start in October.

Interested in participation in our activities and meetings? Please contact Oliwia Fryc: ofryc@biurofestiwalowe.pl on the Creative Writing Course, Anthology and publication matters.

On the weekend of 22-23 April, the first Krakow Book Fair in this year was held at the Wyspiański Pavilion. Changeable weather forced us to move under the roof, but the event was as lively and interesting as usual, involving 11 antiquarian book sellers and second-hand book sellers from Krakow and around, the Voivodeship Public Library, a comic strip writing workshop, a printing workshop run by the Krakow Library, a bookbinding show, a walk of antiquarian bookshops… and the unique opportunity to seestencil duplicating machine used for painting clandestine publications in the 1980s at work!

In the meantime, a delicious snack of hummus was offered by Amamamusia.

Watch our photo gallery form the Krakow Book Fair

Photographs: Inga Szeliga.

In connection with the World Book and Copyright Day, multimedia Literary Stops of the UNESCO City of Literature have appeared in the streets of Krakow. To the users of the municipal public transport they bring closer the important writers associated with Krakow. One of the stops features Joseph Conrad who is looking into the boundlessness of the African jungle, two other ones are decorated with motifs from Stanisław Wyspiański’s works, another one refers to the works of Stanisław Lem, while other ones are inspired by Krakow’s Avant-Garde and their “Zwrotnica” magazine. The outstanding graphic designers from Krakow, among others Przemek Dębowski, Mateusz Kołek and Tomasz Budzyń, were asked to design the stops. Thanks to the cooperation with Woblink and to the use of the Czytaj PL module in the Woblink application, everyone can download free of charge the ebooks, audiobooks, and multimedia materials available at the stops. They action is organized by the City of Krakow, the Krakow Festival Office, the National Museum in Krakow and the company AMS – a Patron of Krakow’s Culture. The stops will remain in Krakow till the end of October, and they will be incessantly supplemented with new digital and literary contents.

“The reasons for this large-scale action are the exceptional jubilees: Conrad Year, Wyspiański Year, Krakow’s Avant-Garde Year, and the approaching Stanisław Lem’s centennial birthday celebrations” enumerates Andrzej Kulig, the  Deputy Mayor of Krakow for Social Policy, Culture and City Promotion. “Our choice of the time for the project inauguration was not accidental: it is April 23rd, when the Book and Copyright Day is celebrated worldwide. As the literary meeting places we have proposed the intersections of the important communication routes, transfer points and the streets of Krakow, the city which since 2013 has had the honour of being a UNESCO City of Literature”.

Przystanki Literackie, fot. Hasenien Dousery, www.blackshadowstudio.com

Przystanki Literackie, fot. Hasenien Dousery, www.blackshadowstudio.com

Selected for the project were six of Krakow’s public transport stops (TAURON Arena Krakow Wieczysta, ICE Kraków Congress Centre near the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Osiedle Jagiellońskie in the direction of Rondo Hipokratesa, Rondo Matecznego, Krakow’s Philharmonic Hall and Plac Inwalidów) located close to the largest transfer nodes. For half a year they were transformed into an exceptional gallery, presenting literary motifs characteristic of such great authors as Stanisław Wyspiański, Joseph Conrad, Stanisław Lem, and the poets from Krakow’s Avant-Garde. “The inhabitants of Krakow cannot miss them. Each of the stop shelters is a small work of art designed by a well-known graphic designer,” emphasizes Robert Piaskowski, the Program Deputy Director of the Krakow Festival Office, and the operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature programme, within the frames of which the priority “Literature and Public Space” is implemented. Among others we invited the following people to participate in the project: Przemek Dębowski, an accomplished author of book covers, including a series of covers for the new edition of Stanisław Lem’s works; Tomasz Budzyń, an author of posters and an events creator, and Mateusz Kołek, who has cooperated with Polish most prominent press titles, and who is also an author of murals”.

The Krakow’s Avant-Garde Stop designed by Tomasz Budzyń refers to the first avant-garde fascination with modern city, speed and mechanics. The graphic setting of Joseph Conrad Stop is the work of a well-known Cracovian graphic designer, Mateusz Kołek. His design refers to the imagination of the author of The Heart of Darkness. At this stop one will be able to admire not only the exceptional work of the graphic designer, but also documentaries presenting the former editions of the Conrad Festival. On the other hand, the Stop of Stanisław Lem, designed by Przemek Dębowski, will enchant the viewer with the riches of the author’s fantastic worlds and with the accuracy of the futuristic visions which come true today before our very eyes.

Two stops – in Plac Inwalidów and by the Philharmonic Hall – are inspired by Stanisław Wyspiański’s works. In November, the National Museum in Krakow, one of the partners of the action, will open a large exhibition dedicated to this artist. It will show not only the collection portraits and of landscape painting by this genius from Krakow, but also his designs of stained glass windows for the Wawel Cathedral, the Franciscan church, and the House of the Medical Society, as well as pencil, ink and charcoal drawings, stage and typographical designs, and archival photos. The stops inspired by Stanisław Wyspiański’s art are the work of the Krakow’s design studio ARTFM. The one near the Philharmonic Hall focuses on the stained glass windows which can be seen in the nearby church of St. Francis. The stop at Plac Inwalidów invites one to enter the magic Planty Park seen with Wyspiański’s eyes at dawn. “I am very pleased that Wyspiański, who has recently been slightly forgotten by Krakow, is coming back to his city. This is the objective of the exhibition, which we will open in November at the National Museum in Krakow, but also of such actions as the Literary Stops or the creation of Stanisław Wyspiański’s trail” – says Łukasz Gaweł, the Deputy Director of the National Museum in Krakow for Strategy, Development and Communication.

Przystanki Literackie, fot. Hasenien Dousery, www.blackshadowstudio.com

Przystanki Literackie, fot. Hasenien Dousery, www.blackshadowstudio.com

“We want to remind the inhabitants of Krakow that literature may and should be an ornament of our city and it constitutes its important part. Thanks to the projects like this, literature comes out from libraries and bookstores, and it has a chance to attract a new audience”, says Robert Piaskowski. That is why special emphasis was placed on the multimedia aspect of the project, and on the possibility of interaction. Each of the stops offers a QR code served by the application of the partner of the action – the Woblink. Thanks to the Czytaj PL module (available in the Woblink application), the world’s largest reading promoting action, after scanning the code one may download, free of charge, the e-books from the special collection of works of the authors and with the most important studies on their work. While waiting for a bus or a tram, anyone can listen to a free audiobook with the Fables for Robots by Stanisław Lem, read the new translation of The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, or the study titled Conrad’s Polish Legacy by Rafał Kopkowski, or the book by Agnieszka Adamowicz-Pośpiech, Travels with Conrad. Sketches.

Additionally, the Krakow Festival Office has made available to the CzytajPL.pl portal the resources of the service prepared for the Codes of the City action, which has been carried out since 2015 (www.kody.miastoliteratury.pl). These include photographs, biographical entries, and audio materials, both in Polish and in English versions. They are real rarities: own poems read by Jalu Kurek (Krakow 422) and Julian Przyboś (A Sign), Tadeusz Peiper’s work, A Flower of the Street, presented by Grzegorz Turnau, and Adam Ważyk’s Poem for Adults read by Piotr Czarnota.

The company AMS, the largest out-of-home advertising company in Poland, has provided the highest technical quality for the stops.

“At AMS, we say, that what we do, is not just business. We want our carriers, on a daily basis, not to serve commercial campaigns only, but also to assist the promotion of important cultural events. Therefore we are happy to be able to co-organize such an outstanding project,” says Grażyna Gołębiowska, the Head of the Department of Marketing Communication and PR at AMS. “For the time of the action we have excluded six stop shelters from sale, transforming them into multimedia theme stops. First, we prepared the foils with which we entirely covered the panes and roofs of the shelters, and thanks to the lenticular printing we achieved special effects of depths and animation on the static layout. At the next stages, we shall, among others, add some aromamarketing elements, and mp3 devices, which can help one to get acquainted with men of letters,” adds Ms. Gołębiowska.

 

Organizers: City of Krakow, Krakow Festival Office, the National Museum in Krakow, and AMS.
Strategic Partner: Woblink/CzytajPL.
Partners of the action: Publishing companies – Wydawnictwo Literackie, Wydawnictwo Znak, Internet Library Free Reading, Wydawnictwo Universitas, www.lem.pl.

The Project is supported by the Public Utility and Transport Infrastructure Office in Krakow.

belka-przystanki

 

At today’s press conference (26 April 2017), the Wisława Szymborska Foundation revealed the nominees for the 5th edition of the Wisława Szymborska Award.

 

The Jury consisting of: Andrei Khadanowich (Belarus), Bernhard Hartmann (Germany), Professor William Martin (US), Abel Murcia Soriano (Spain), Professor Marian Stala and Dorota Walczak-Delanois (Belgium), chaired by Joanna Orska, nominated the following short-list of candidates for the award:

źródło: Fundacja im. Wisławy Szymborskiej

źródło: Fundacja im. Wisławy Szymborskiej

 

Tomasz Bąk for his volume [beep] generation (published by Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna and Centrum Animacji Kultury), Jerzy Kronhold for his volume Skok w dal (Wydawnictwo Literackie), Tomasz Różycki for his volume Litery (wydawnictwo a5), Marcin Sendecki for his volume W (Biuro Literackie), Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki for his volume Nie dam ci siebie w żadnej postaci (wydawnictwo Lokator).

This year the Jury decided not to grant an award to any poet from abroad for translation of a volume into Polish. More than 200 books were submitted as candidates for the Polish award, but only 13 for the international award.. The discrepancy was so huge that the Jury decided not to grant the International Award in 2017; in 2018 the Jury regulations will be amended to accept more submissions.

The name of the award winner who will receive PLN 100 000 and the statuette designed by Teren Prywatny studio, will be announced at the Gala to be held in Krakow on 10 July 2017 during the Miłosz Festival.

 

The Mayor of the City of Krakow Jacek Majchrowski and prominent personages representing various spheres of Krakow’s literary life have participated in the meeting of the Honorary Board of the UNESCO City of Literature. The debate focused on the literary programme of Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature, the projects that are already being implemented, and first of all on the planned projects: Jerzy Illg, Grzegorz Gauden, Ireneusz Kania, Ryszard Krynicki, Bronisław Maj, Michał Paweł Markowski and Adam Zagajewski participated in the meeting which was held at the Krakow City Office on 21 April.

Today the Honorary Board has held its second meeting. The membership in the Board consists of: Jerzy Illg, Grzegorz Gauden, Ireneusz Kania, Ryszard Krynicki, Ewa Lipska, Bronisław Maj, Michał Paweł Markowski and Adam Zagajewski.

Participants in the meeting discussed the results of activities under the UNESCO City of Literature programme in preceding months and the City’s plans in the area of literature. New ideas to confirm the City’s sustained support for readership promotion were also discussed.

The Honorary Board of the UNESCO City of Literature was created in connection with the granting of the title to Krakow in October 2013. It is an operative body for consultation between the City and various literary circles. The Board deals with the issues of importance for the preservation and enhancement of Krakow’s heritage as a custodian of multi-language literature and with themes pertinent to the city’s literary life.

fot: www.krakow.pl

See the photo gallery

How to write about high culture on the web? How to move about freely among translations and ambitious literature? And finally, how to present attractively not just popular literature but poetry and essay? This is not going to be the knowledge available only to the initiated. The Miłosz Festival invites you for free, two-day workshops for bloggers and critics to be held in Krakow on 20 and 21 May. The workshop will be run by Paulina Małochleb – literary critic and researcher, Secretary of the Wisława Szymborska Award. 

We wait for your applications – containing your new or already published text and your contact details – to be sent until 8 May to warsztaty@fundacjamiastoliteratury.pl. The list of candidates who qualified for participation in the workshop will be announced on 15 May. The workshop will take place on 20 May (11.00 am -6.00 pm) and 21 May (11.00 am -3.00 pm) in Literacka Café in Krakow (ul. Krakowska 41).

Paulina Małochleb is one of the best known literary critics of the young generation. She runs classes in modern literature and critical workshops at the Jagiellonian University. She is the winner of many awards, including the Award of the President of Council of Ministers and the Foundation for Polish Science Award in 2014. This year she received the Young Poland scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. She writes for ”Fa-art”, ”Nowe Książki”, ”Odra”, ”Polityka”, ”Polonistyka”, ”Twórczość”, ”Tygiel Kultury” and ”Znak”. She runs a blog entitled ”Książki na ostro”, which was ranked among 15 best book blogs by ”Press” magazine. The blog received the best score of all award winners for its substantive content.

The May critical workshops will introduce us to further workshops planned to be held during the Miłosz Festival (8-11 June). They will be run by Justine Sobolewska, a journalist from ”Polityka” weekly, and Michał Nogaś, the author of very popular programmes about books and journalist of Wyborcza.pl. A literary criticism panel will also be held during the festival. More details are due shortly; meanwhile we encourage you to sending applications for the May workshop!

 

fot. Jakub Ociepa

Announcing our 2017 Krakow UNESCO City of Literature Residency Program Writers!

The Krakow UNESCO City of Literature Residency Program is dedicated to young and emerging writers from the Cities of Literature of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. The Program was created with the belief that the Network provides an excellent opportunity to develop interconnections, boost mobility, and offer professionalization services for writers. It aims to promote the Cities of Literature Network, provide writers with a platform to showcase their work and talent to a Central European audience, support greater diversity of voices and literatures on the Polish and Central European book market and offer local writers the chance to create links with international writers as well. As a result of the 2017 call for applications, three writers representing three different Cities of Literature were selected for the program!

program-rezydencjalny

Sarah Herman, Brynjar Jóhannesson, Sarah Stewart

In May, Krakow will welcome Brynjar Jóhannesson from Reykjavik UNESCO City of Literature. Brynjar is an Icelandic poet, with a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Iceland and currently studying for a masters degree in creative writing at the same university. In 2014 he was the winner of the annual poetry slam contest held by the municipal library of Reykjavík. In 2014, Brynjar worked with Drífa Thoroddsen on a poetry project as a part of Listhópar hins hússins, a program for funding young artists in the city of Reykjavík. As of March 2017 he has written and self-published four books of poetry. One, Biðstofuljóð, in 2014, as a part of his project with Drífa Thoroddsen, and the other three (Ég, Flugvél and Og) in 2017 as part of his ongoing poetry project tólf (e. twelve). During his residency in Krakow, Brynjar will work on a short book of poetry inspired by the city. Brynjar cites Wisława Szymborska, Ewa Lipska as well as Tadeusz Różewicz as inspirations; these Polish poets have been closely connected with Krakow, of course!

Sarah Stewart, poet and children‘s book author from Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature, will stay in Krakow in June 2017, just in time for the Miłosz International Poetry Festival. Sarah plans to work on a poetry series about Krakow from the Scottish perspective. She became interested in Polish poetry, especially that of Czesław Miłosz, while working on an international poetry project called „Written World“. Sarah started her career at comic publishers DC Thomson before moving to London to work as a magazine journalist and then editor. She was Fiction Editor at Scholastic Children’s Books and Senior Editor at Floris Books, and has written for Mizz, Bella, Time Out, The Skinny, The Herald, The List and The Guardian. She is Director of The Lighthouse Literary Consultancy, which offers editorial guidance to new writers. Sarah’s children’s books are published by Stripes under the pseudonym Sarah Forbes, and her poetry has appeared in Anon, Gutter, Mslexia, New Writing Dundee, The Pickled Body, The Scotsman and in the 2014 anthologies Be The First To Like This: New Scottish Poetry and Best Scottish Poems 2014.

Last but not least, Sarah Herman, hailing from Norwich UNESCO City of Literature and joining us in Krakow in October, has spent over 10 years writing, editing, and proofreading for advertising and marketing agencies, book publishers,and magazines, both in-house and as a freelancer. She has written copy for the likes of Topshop, Fuller’sBrewery, Brighterkind Care Homes, and Red Tractor, produced web copy for a daily deals site,was the staff writer for an arts and fashion magazine, and worked as a marketing agency proofreader, where theclient list included Barclays, Aviva, Mazda, and Pret A Manger. She has interviewed filmmakers and farmers, spoken about Facebook on Polish TV, and written over 20 books aboutsubjects as varied as famous assassinations, LEGO models, and The Archers. While in Krakow, Sarah will be working on her new literary project which involves a short story collection that centers on the lives of three women. Readers and audiences will have a chance to meet with Sarah at the Joseph Conrad International Literature Festival.

The Residency Program is a strategic project of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature Program, operated by the Krakow Festival Office, which will fulfill the priority of strengthening international cooperation in the field of literature and the creative industries.

Willa Decjusza

Writers will receive the opportunity for a one-month stay at the Villa Decius, official partner of the project with years of experience running international residencies, including the Visegrad Literary Residency and the ICORN residency program.

The Krakow Festival Office will guarantee residents the opportunity to participate in the literary life of the city and help to develop opportunities for them to promote their works in Poland.

 

belka

Enter the search phrase: