QR-code of the Czytaj PL (Read PL) action on the Internet… in return for a promise.

Czytaj PL posters are not available in your town? They are only situated in not easily accessible (places (high school whose entrance is guarded by a formidable janitor accompanied by a group of students on duty)? We have decided to listen to your requests and as in the previous year, share posters enabling you to join the action on the Internet. However, to get them, you need to make a very special promise…

I, a lover of books and reading, will shortly download a free poster with a QR-code which will give me an access to 12 complete e-bestsellers for free. At the same time, I hereby promise that I shall print the poster and hang it in a conspicuous place so as the others could use it freely, giving me the satisfaction of infecting the others with reading.

Every person that agrees to make such a promise, can download the poster available in four different formats. Furthermore, people who had downloaded the poster may take part in a competition “Książka za obietnicę” (“A book for a promise”) and win a PocketbookAqua2 e-book reader together with e-books voucher for the Woblink bookshop. All you have to do is to send a photo and the location of the poster hanged, through a form available on THIS WEBSITE.

The posters added to the form will also be marked on the map of this year’s action. Last year, thanks to the commitments from web users who kept their promises, the action reached additional 120 cities and towns, 4 countries, as well as another continent (Australia)!

The organizers of the Czytaj PL action consequently bet on the enthusiasm and involvement of the readers themselves in promoting the action. Since the beginning of November, thousand of high school students all around the country have proudly been wearing t-shirts with QR-codes that enable to download e-books and audiobooks on their smartphones.

First points marking posters hanged by the readers themselves (color-coded purple) can already be found on this year’s map.

Take advantage of our action, devote yourself to reading and if you like what we do and like the Woblink application, then remember to rate it 5 stars. It is really helpful in preparing new surprises for you!

[Source: www.czytajpl.pl]

On November 2nd, 7 000 e-book lending posters and other sources will appear all around Poland and the world. We’ll find them at bus stops, restaurants, schools, community centres and more. Read PL is one of the largest initiatives in the world that promotes reading in such a fashion, and the only such project in Poland that has taken over nearly 500 cities and towns in the country.  This year’s edition will reach a record number of readers in Poland, as well as abroad. Among the bestsellers that one can borrow, we’ll find The Secret Life of Trees and Shantaram.

Read PL (www.czytajPL.pl), unique in its scope and scale, is an initiative that will expand its reach to record breaking numbers.   It will take place in 30 cities as well as 450 towns where schools have joined the project. Over 7000 posters and e-lending tools will allow for the free rental of e-books and audiobooks. QR codes corresponding to 12 bestsellers, including 5 totally new publications in 2017, will give readers this access. For the first time, 10 international cities will take part in the initiative, including Barcelona, Dublin, Dunedin, Dundee, Edinburgh, Lviv, Norwich, Nottingham, Prague, Reykjavik. All this is possible thanks to one QR code and one special applications. This project is organised for the 5^th time by the Krakow Festival Office, operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature Programme as well as the e-book platform Woblink.com.

Among the bestsellers, everyone will find something for his/herself. For those who enjoy crime fiction, Camille Läckberg’s The Ice Princess, translated to over 40 languages in 60 countries will be available. Adventure lovers will enjoy reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, which presents the legendary story of a bank robber hiding in India. Peter Wohlleben’s book Secret Life of Trees will unveil to us the incredible things that take place in forests. The Januasz Zajdel Award winner Forty and four by Krzysztof Piskorski, Archipelago City by Filip Springer, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson and Elżbieta Cherezińska’s  Crown of Blood and Snow are also among those to be found.

On the initiative of the Polish Book Institute, as many as 1000 secondary schools from all over the country have signed up to participate in a pilot campaign called “Hunt your own book” that will allow students to borrow a book during breaks between classes. Just a smartphone and the Woblink application are necessary. Pupils also will have an opportunity to take part in contests with attractive prizes. But that’s not all. In 200 restaurants, guests will be able to rent a book without leaving the table, thanks to a specially prepared menu as part of “Read PL as an appetizer”.

To get the e-books and audiobooks, you need to download Woblink from the App Store or Google Play and go to the Read PL page. Just one code is necessary. You can invite up to 5 friends to join the fun and get access to the collection. Read PL will take place from November 2 to 30. Locate where there is a poster near you using the online map: www.czytajPL.pl

List of available books [available only in Polish]:

1. Wojciech Drewniak Historia bez cenzury 2 | History uncensored 2
2. Krzysztof Piskorski Czterdzieści i cztery | Forty and four
3. Gregory David Roberts Shantaram
4. Filip Springer Miasto Archipelag. Polska mniejszych miast | Archipelago City
5. Anna Kamińska Wanda
6. Jakub Małecki Ślady | Tracks
7. Dan Ariely Szczera prawda o nieuczciwości  | The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty
8. Elżbieta Cherezińska Korona śniegu i krwi | Crown of Snow and Blood
9. Camilla Lackberg Księżniczka z lodu |The Ice Princess
10. Peter Wohlleben Sekretne życie drzew | The Secret Life of Trees
11. Jon Ronson #WstydźSię! | So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed
12. Marek Kamiński Marek i czaszka jaguara | Marek and the jaguar’s skull

Organisers of Read PL: Krakow Festival Office, Woblink
Strategic Partner: Polish Book Institute
Organisers of the initiative in schools (Hunt your own book): Polish Book Institute, Krakow Festival Office, Woblink
Publishers: Znak Horyzont, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Wydawnictwo Marginesy, Wydawnictwo Karakter, SQN, Smak Słowa, Zysk, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, Otwarte, Insignis Media, Znak Emotikon

Partner cities: Kraków, Poznań, Łódź, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Katowice, Lublin, Toruń, Częstochowa, Opole, Gdynia, Rzeszów
Other cities taking part: Warszawa, Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Bytom, Chorzów, Mysłowice, Rybnik, Sosnowiec, Szczecin, Tychy
UNESCO Cities of Literature participating: Barcelona, Dublin, Dundee, Dunedin, Edinburgh, Lviv, Norwich, Nottingham, Prague, Reykjavik

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage as part of the National Programme for the Promotion of Reading. The initiative is organised under the patronage of Ministry of National Education.

In 2013, Krakow joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, having been given the title of the City of Literature. A few days ago, the network was enlarged by 64 new cities! Each of them specializes in one of the seven creative domains: literature, music, film, visual arts, craft and folk art, and gastronomy.

There is one representative from Poland among them – Łódź, which is now UNESCO City of Film and the third creative city in Poland! In turn, the list of the Cities of Literature was augmented with Utrecht (the Netherlands), Québec City (Canada), Seattle (USA), Manchester (Great Britain), Milan (Italy), Lillehammer (Norway), Durban (RSA), and Bucheon (South Korea).

Congratulations!

Creative Cities Network is a UNESCO Programme established in 2004, aimed at promoting the practice of cooperation between the cities and regions which base their development on different aspects of creative economy. UNESCO grants the Creative City title in seven domains: literature, music, film, visual arts, craft and folk art, and gastronomy. The main mission of the Network is to build an international partnership in order to support the creative sector and promote creativity understood as a factor of sustainable development. Currently, the Network associates 180 cities from 72 countries.

More info here

As you open the book, it takes you into its power

“This festival continues for more than a week. Ideas shared by our guests are grasped by the audience, institutions and cultural animators who continue the event throughout the whole year”

– said Grzegorz Jankowicz, Festival Programme Director at the Conrad Award Gala that concluded the 9th Conrad Festival continuing from Monday.

The winner of the award for the best debut of the year is Anna Cieplak, the author of the book Ma być czysto, a story about the life of junior secondary school students. “It is a funny coincidence. The motto of this year’s Festival edition is “Unrest”. Exactly a year ago I was working with young people on a project bearing the same title” – said the author accepting the award. “Today there are even more causes of unrest than 12 months ago. This is why, though I am happy with the award, joy mixes with uncertainty.” The award-winning author received PLN 30,000, a statuette and an offer of residency programme in Krakow. Magdalena Sipowicz and Renata Szpilka received awards for the best translators, and Anna Goc for the best moderator. After the award ceremony, Siri Hustvedt gave a master lecture, in which she talked about her writing method and about the relation between the work and the reader. ”As you open the book, its characters take you into their power” – she said.

Before Festival guests, organisers and audience met at the Gala in the ICE Kraków Congress Centre, discussions continued all day long in the Czeczotka Mansion. Writers Wioletta Grzegorzewska and Weronika Gogola discussed if one can be proud of coming from a small town. Both of them are critical about provinciality in their books, but they can also show what is valuable in small localities: brave resilience, caring for community links and charming spirituality. – I wrote Guguły, to answer the question: “In what do the two worlds differ?” – said Grzegorzewska. – “The borders between them are becoming more and more unclear nowadays. Perhaps they will disappear altogether soon”.

Photo Alicja Wróblewska, www.blackshadowstudio.com

An important part of the programme of this year’s festival were meetings with biographers, e.g.: Magdalena Grzebałkowska, Marcin Borchardt, Remigiusz Ryziński, Krzysztof Tomasik and Wojciech Orliński. On the last day of the event, time came to answer the question: Why do we actually write and read biographies? This question was discussed by Klementyna Suchanow – the author of the recently published, two-volume book Gombrowicz. Ja, geniusz and Monika Piątkowska – the author of the book Prus. Śledztwo biograficzne. ”Biographies are for grown-ups something like fairy tales for children” – said Suchanow. “We read them to learn who our authorities are and where we come from”. Though they took up extremely different tasks – Gombrowicz left a lot of biographical material, whilst Prus for all his life guarded his privacy, did not run a diary, did not collect notes – both biographers understand their work in a similar way. “Language skills are very important, it is good if the author has them. But the most important thing is to reach the facts” – said Piątkowska. ”Without them we can write fairy tales or blogs” – added Suchanow.

As every year, one discussion was dedicated to Joseph Conrad. This time it wasn’t the discussion about translations and interpretations of individual works, but about why we can dislike the patron of the Festival. It turns out there are a lot of reasons – his contemporary fellow writers considered him a traitor, because he did not write in Poland or in Polish, whilst later generations often accused him of racism and colonialism. “Conrad could not write in Polish; the contact with the Eglish language awakened the writer in him” – said philosopher Agata Bielik–Robson. – He was interested in universal issues rather than the local ones, trying to find an answer to the questions: What happens when the mind tries to become rooted in the foreign land , the issue dealt with in The Heart of Darkness. “In Poland no one would forgive him that he deals with something else than Poland” – added the writer and literary scholar, Ryszard Koziołek. Panellists also discussed Conrad’s controversial approach to British imperialism. Why didn’t he ever clearly condemn the Empire’s colonial activity? Why did he write about Africans in such a way that he was later accused of racism? – Conrad takes up the issue of a modernisation project but he does not judge it, said Bielik-Robson. — All of his characters eventually surrender, they seem to say: I don’t understand this world and never will.

The series of discussions was closed by a meeting with Jean–Ulrick Désert, an artist participating in the exhibition “A New Region of the World” on display in Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, in line with the programme of the Conrad Festival. In his works he analyses the problem of otherness and seeks alternatives to colonial mechanisms.

On the last day of the festival you could also talk with Joanna Karpowicz and Magdalena Lankosz, the authors of the comic strip Anastazja.

In autumn 2017, more Krakow locations will receive literary patronage. On the eve of Krakow’s major literary event, the Conrad Festival and the accompanying Book Fair, we revive memories of i.a. artists connected with Nowa Huta, a district which is very interesting and eccentric, though nowadays slightly overlooked. New literary benches have already sprung up in the Town Hall Park, and more will soon appear in Krakow’s centre. This is yet another outcome of the City Codes project, implemented by the Krakow Festival Office, holder of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature title.

The project commemorates, among others, the following contributors to Nowa Huta’s literary heritage: Wojciech Bogusławski, Jan Brzechwa, Maria Dąbrowska, Ryszard Kapuściński, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Hugo Kołłątaj, Tadeusz Konwicki, Paweł Majka, Artur Międzyrzecki, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, Renata Radłowska, Wiktor Woroszylski and Stefan Żeromski. New centre-based literary benches will bear such names as: Maciej Słomczyński, Tadeusz Śliwiak and Jerzy Waldorff-Preyss.

All benches are furnished with special plates bearing author names and special QR codes. Once scanned, a QR code takes you directly to a website with an author’s biography and fragments of his or her work. All existing literary benches and Krakow’s selected major literary locations can easily be found by means of the website’s interactive map.

The City Codes project is much more than a well-endowed multimedia e-library which helps document Krakow’s multi-century literary life and accommodate text fragments, invaluable archival recordings, photographs and biographies of key literary and cultural figures. Scattered across urban space, these visually appealing plates of literary patrons effectively promote the UNESCO City of Literature brand among Krakow citizens and visitors. Thanks to this project, the prestigious title enjoyed by Krakow for four years now is more prominent in public space. It also epitomises the concept of urban space interwoven with literature.

Two years ago, 100 benches in Krakow’s Planty received their literary patrons, and since then the list of author names has steadily grown. Currently, Krakow boasts almost 180 literary benches, a testimony to the city’s potent literary heritage. At the City Codes library, one can access archival audio recordings of i.a. Adam Zagajewski, Ziemowit Szczerek, Ewa Lipska, Wisława Szymborska, Czesław Miłosz, Ryszard Krynicki and Julia Hartwig. Other artists and cultural activists such as singers, actors, writers, cultural journalists and literary critics joined the project as lectors. Texts are read out by i.a.: Grzegorz Turnau, Bronisław Maj, Szymon Kloska, Zośka Papużanka, Marcin Wilk and Łukasz Dębski. Thanks to our partner publishers, the City Codes e-library website also offers fragments of audiobooks and audio recordings of i.a. Marek Kondrat, Jerzy Trela, Borys Szyc and Maciej Stuhr.

For more on the project, go to: www.kody.miastoliteratury.pl

”The measure of success of a story is consistency of the world in which the story is set with the world in which it is understood” – said Professor Michał Paweł Markowski, the Chairman of the Jury of the Conrad Award in the laudation. – “The more the world in which the plot develops is obvious, the fewer problems the narrator has with explaining where he or she stands. The author let the characters speak but fully controls their words, describes the world that he or she sees because that world fully deserves to be described. The narrator trusts reality and trusts his/her language, but first of all trusts his/her insights and this triple trust (in the world, the language and in himself/herself) is the foundation of a well-cut story, which all of us can like and find refuge in when the weather is bad” – adds Markowski.

Conrad Award 2017 Gala, fot. Wojtek Rojek

UNESCO CREATIVE CITIES NETWORK
Creativity is a renewable resource and heritage a non-renewable resource, although its interpretation and meaning might change through time. Together they shape, make and co-create the evolving culture of places in a process that is continually negotiated. Harmonizing the potentially diverging priorities or even tensions of past achievement and contemporary exploration is a wider aim of UNESCO. It can be a positive experience and trigger imaginative responses.

In the global imagination UNESCO remains mostly associated with heritage and its tangible and intangible heritage listings are what it is known for. Its scope of work is of course wider, such as in education and science. Since the early 1980’s it has been concerned with creativity as a form of cultural expression, source of distinctiveness and later a source of wealth creation, employment, image and perception of place. But only from the 2000’s onward did the term creative industries come into popular use. This culminated in the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions under which the Creative Cities Network falls.

The Creative Cities idea was proposed to UNESCO by Lesley Hinds, the then provost of Edinburgh in 2003. The idea had been suggested to the city leadership by Edinburgh’s cultural community and accepted by UNESCO’s then Director General Koïchiro Matsuura.

In parallel from 2005 onward UNESCO undertook substantial advocacy work encapsulated in initiatives such as the International Fund for Cultural Diversity launched in 2010, a multi-donor, voluntary fund that relies on donations from governments, individuals, civil society and the private sector. Related advocacy work and documents include the 2013 Creative Economy Report.

The Creative Cities Network launched in 2004 started with a group of six cities. Currently it is a network of 180 cities from over 70 countries. It is focused on seven fields literature, music, design, film, crafts and folk art, gastronomy and media arts. Celebrating contemporary manifestations of creativity is the raison d’être of the network. Creativity is a powerful renewable resource and heritage a non-renewable resource, although its interpretation and meaning might change through time. Together they shape, make and co-create the evolving culture of places in a process that is continually negotiated. Harmonizing the potentially diverging priorities or even tensions of past achievement and contemporary exploration is a wider aim of UNESCO.

Effective networks are increasingly fluid structures and processes through which ideas and values flow and come alive with network nodes providing the energy rather than the centre. Their coherence comes from the multiple relationships, interactions, joint projects and crosshatches of activity that are bound together by common values and aims. They are alert and responsive, where difference and diversity is encouraged, yet consensus is a common goal. They are more driven by principles than tight guidelines.

In fact, it is more the person who collaborates rather than the abstraction that is the city. Networks are a human endeavour. Their engine is shared values, agreed aims, co-created ideas and programmes, joint planning and ventures. These pre-conditions get people to exchange information, knowledge and their potentially powerful tacit and unexpressed insights. This can generate the desire to create time and extra effort, in spite of other obligations, to develop projects.

The cache of the title acts as a badge of honour and can have multiple impacts if cities understand the title as a flexible tool and what it can do. Then it can be an accelerator of opportunities. Drawing the threads together we can see that the designation is an organizing device for certain cities at a point in their development and related to their size. For these cities, like Krakow, its vision should be stated with clarity, purpose, specific aims and targets. This should combine realism and idealism.

WHAT MAKES A CITY CREATIVE?
Crucially every city with the right attitude can be more creative than it already is. A creative place has a strong culture. It is somewhere where people can express their talents which are harnessed, exploited and promoted for the common good. Things get done. These talents act as a catalyst and role model to the development and attraction of further talent. It is a place with myriad, high quality learning opportunities, formal and informal, with a forward looking and adaptable and highly connected curriculum.

The physical environment functions well for its inhabitants, it is easy to move around and connect with each other. Its high level urban design inspires, stimulates and generates pride and affection. The architecture, old and new, is well-assembled, and the street pattern is diverse and interesting. Webbed within the ordinary is the occasional extra-ordinary and remarkable.

It is an environment in which creators of all kinds are content and motivated to create and where there are outlets and channels to exploit innovations or for the sale of their work. It is a natural market place, where people exchange ideas, develop joint projects, trade their products and services, or work in its advanced industries.

It offers rich, vibrant experiences through for example gastronomy, the arts, heritage and its natural surroundings, including thriving mainstream and alternative scenes and a healthy network of third spaces. Opportunities abound: the place is welcoming and encouraging. Its dynamism makes it a magnet and so generates critical mass that guarantees longevity.

The political and public framework has a clarity of purpose and direction, and understands the importance of harnessing the potential of its people. It is lean, clear and focused. Its bureaucratic workings are easy to navigate and it is accessible, open and encourages participation. Public employees here are focused on the job at hand regardless of departmental boundaries. Differences are a natural part of this discussion culture. They are debated, accepted, negotiated and resolved without rancor. Its leadership has vision and is strategic yet is grounded in day to day reality. It is respected and trusted and recognizes its vital role in continuously identifying new opportunities and future-proofing.

At its best, there is a high degree of cohesion; this place is relatively open to incomers and to new ideas, even though these can sometimes be uncomfortable – indeed, creative places are often not that cosy and can be somewhat edgy. You feel this place enjoys its status as a creative hub and the physical environment in which it exists. Levels of crime are in general low, the place feels safe and standards of living are relatively high. It is socially alert and seeks to avoid ghettoizing its poorest. Social organizations are active, well-funded and constructive.

Industry is innovative and design aware, with a strong focus on new trends, emerging technologies and fledgling sectors such as developing the green economy or creative industries. It is well networked and connected and its commitment to research and development is well above average. Cross fertilization across even the most diverse sectors occurs as a matter of course. The business community is entrepreneurial, has drive and is forward thinking. It harnesses existing talents and acts as a breeding ground for new skills.

Business leaders are respected figures in their community and give something back. The community in turn is proud of their products and services and the reputation they bring to the place. There are effective communications systems including local and international transport, high speed internet access and connectivity to the world at large.

Overall, as in all creative places, this place is unlike any other. You can feel and sense the buzz, it is obvious to residents and visitors alike. It accentuates its distinctiveness in a relaxed and nonthreatening way. It is at ease with itself. Its history, culture and traditions are alive, receptive to influence and change, absorbing new ideas which in turn evolve and develop its distinctiveness and culture.

KRAKOW AS A UNESCO CREATIVE CITY
Krakow became a UNESCO City of Literature in October 2013. As a result of the designation the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature Office was created within the structures of the Krakow Festival Office. The programme assumed ten key areas as important to the development of its local literary community:
1. Integrate a diverse literary sector
2. Create links between literature and other creative industries
3. Shape attitudes to reading and literature
4. Organize literary events and festivals
5. Support the development of the book industry
6. Improve conditions for the presence of literature in public space
7. Expand scholarship programmes
8. Strengthen connection between literature and human rights
9. Deepen international cooperation
10. Develop literary education programmes

After four years in the network, the City has seen success unlike many other cities in the network, from developing its festivals, which have won international accolades, to retaining its position as the coordinator of the UNESCO Cities of Literature – from culture to diplomacy, it is highly active and effectively taking advantage of the international opportunity and tool that the UCCN is for reaching global goals.

But how well does it do outside of the literature field? Is it using the designation to uplift other creative sectors and artistic fields? We’ll evaluate this through the Creative City Index (CCI), which my team and I are in the process of carrying out.

To participate click on this link to take a short or long survey and express your views on how creative Krakow really is.
Prepared by: Charles Landry

Not only Krakow will present the offer of numerous niche publishing houses during the 21st International Book Fair in Krakow. Between 26 and 29th October this year, a delegation of the publishers from Sankt Petersburg will participate in the Fair in Krakow for the first time!

Three renowned publishing houses from St. Petersburg will be presenting their offer on the C60 stand: Those will be: “Ivan Limbakh”, “Vita Nova Press”, and “Zvezda Magazine” Publishing Houses. On behalf of the International Book Fair in Krakow and the organisers, we would like to invite you to visit the stand, and become familiar with the offer of Russian publishers that is rarely available in Poland.

Additionally, on 26 October 2017 between 3.00 and 3.50 p.m., a presentation of Saint-Petersburg International Book Fair will take place in the Lviv Hall, placing particular emphasis on the presence of foreign publishers. You are invited!

Ivan Limbakh Publishing House

The publishing house publishes books of distinguished foreign authors, whose presence in the cultural and intellectual Russian life is considered essential. The publishing house has contributed to publishing in Russia such books by Polish authors as: Czesław Miłosz, Witold Gombrowicz, Zbigniew Herbert, Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Leszek Kołakowski, Adam Wodnicki, and Mariusz Wilk.

„Vita Nova Press” Publishing House

The publishing house specialises in limited editions of classic books published with some comments and lavishly illustrated. The offer of the publisher also involves poetry, biographies and literary criticism. The publishing house is well known for its cooperation with the best Russian artists.

„Zvezda Magazine” Publishing House

The publishing house does not only publish the legendary literary magazine „Zvezda” that has been issued since 1924 and was trying to create space for poets and writers rejected by the Soviet authorities during the communist times. The publishing house has currently been publishing books that are devoted to different aspects of Russian cultural life.