Young Krakow writer wins prestigious scholarship to Edinburgh

Ahsan Ridha Hassan, a writer from Krakow, has received a scholarship from the Lord Provost’s International Residency Programme delivered by Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature.

The Lord Provost’s International Residency Programme is a new initiative that is part of Edinburgh’s efforts to build and develop a community of all the cities in the Creative Cities Network, as the first ever UNESCO City of Literature, a title awarded fourteen years ago. The programme is aimed exclusively at writers based in Krakow. Its objectives include strengthening cooperation between cities and focusing on supporting emerging literary talents.

The first beneficiary of the programme was Ahsan Ridha Hassan, a Krakow-based writer of Iraqi descent, representative of the youngest generation of writers (born in 1988), author of Wieża  (2014), Trupojad i dziewczyna (2017), as well as a number of articles and short stories. His prose is recognised by critics for its distance, irony and tenderness towards the protagonists – all the features that evoke associations with the works by Etgar Keret and Kurt Vonnegut. Ahsan Ridha Hassan graduated with honours from the Course of Creative Writing organised by Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature.

Thanks to the scholarship, Ahsan will spend the whole of November in Edinburgh, he will also receive the status of a Community Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh (IASH). The Krakow writer will be able to engage in creative work in the space of the oldest university in Edinburgh, take advantage of the resources collected in university libraries, and actively participate in the literary life of the city. Congratulations!

Information on the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature website: http://www.cityofliterature.com/the-lord-provosts-international-residency/

The first centre devoted to literature and language in Poland will be established in Krakow. The construction of the “Planet Lem” Literature and Language Centre in the former Salt Store in Zabłocie was announced by the City of Krakow during a press conference on the 6th of September 2018. The conference was accompanied by the announcement of an international architectural and urban competition for the concept of the Centre.

Stanisław Lem will be the patron of the new Centre. “He was the most popular Polish author, a writer who dealt with issues that are universal and current, even for today’s reader. ‘Planet Lem’ will be a place devoted to the broad presentation of literature and language heritage and will become a symbol of Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature,” says Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of Krakow. “Works on the detailed concept of the centre lasted for many years and involved all the literary circles of our city – and beyond. For the 5th anniversary of the awarding of the UNESCO City of Literature title to Krakow, we proudly present a mature vision of the place based on the idea of multi-generational literary and linguistic education. We want to do justice to this important location and use it for social purposes – in its special context at the junction of three districts and in the context of other cultural institutions of Podgórze and Zabłocie,” adds the Mayor.

The investment will be developed on a plot of land belonging to the city, with an area of about 1 hectare, at ul. Na Zjeździe 8, in the vicinity of other cultural institutions on the right bank of the Vistula –Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, the MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art and the Cricoteka Centre for Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor, near the bridge of the agglomeration railway, the Podgórze Museum and the green areas of the Vistula Boulevards. In this way, a place will be created which will be particularly valuable for the cultural district that Zabłocie and Podgórze have become in recent years. The context of the nearby Bohaterów Getta Square is also important, as is the successive development of Zabłocie, where in recent years significant numbers of residents – families with children – coming there, looking for the so-called third place for themselves –a place to spend their free time, learn and rest.

Stanisław Lem will be the patron of the literary house of Krakow

The historic Salt Store building has been considered for many years as a future cultural space, and the authorities made considerations for locating the seats of a number of institutions there, including the Krakow Festival Office, Sinfonietta Cracovia, the Podgórze Museum and the Krakow Library. The subject of the international competition for the vision of “Planet Lem” is the revitalisation of the 18th-century salt warehouse building and its extension, which will comprise adding a new building on its eastern side. The whole complex will be a multifunctional space, open to all age groups, a place of literary education and at the same time a showcase of the first Slavic UNESCO City of Literature – Krakow has been holding this title since 2013.

A modern exhibition dedicated to the thematic universe of the novels by Stanisław Lem – futurologist, novelist, most often translated and published Polish writer – will constitute the heart of the investment. In this place, the memory of the creative output of other outstanding masters of written word, especially those associated with Krakow, will be nurtured, including Czesław Miłosz, Wisława Szymborska, Stanisław Wyspiański, Joseph Conrad, Sławomir Mrożek, as well as outstanding translators, illustrators, and authors of children’s books.

Multifunctional and innovative space for literature

The concept of the main exhibition was developed by Tengent, a studio, whose artists were partly responsible for the successes of the renowned Platige Image group, among others. The vision was created from an idea by Jacek Dukaj, one of the most important contemporary Polish novelists. The narrative of the exhibition is built around the key issues of technological progress, chance, evolution, strangeness and the boundaries of cognition, which were all crucial to Lem. At the same time, it will be aimed at a broader audience, including, first of all, youth and children, involving participants in an interactive game with the use of innovative technologies.

In cooperation with the Foundation for the Museum of Polish Language, the concept of an additional permanent exhibition devoted to language (including in particular Polish in all its forms and dialects) and communication in general was developed. Additionally, mobile exhibitions are planned, reminding the visitors of outstanding literary figures of Krakow, modern, modular multifunctional rooms for festivals and other literary events (including the Conrad Festival, Miłosz Festival, Non-Fiction Festival, Children Literature Festival, Comic Book Festival) and a number of other literary initiatives carried out by the future partners of the Centre), as well as a media library, café and bookshop and a coworking space for literary and creative circles of Krakow. The building will be complemented by an adjacent garden, thanks to which post-industrial Zabłocie will be enriched with a new green space. “The investment concludes the programme of revitalisation of Zabłocie by establishing a common home for various literary initiatives and all the entities that have been building the literary Krakow for years. Our city needs such a place and for a long time, together with the literary circles of our city, as well as the Honorary Council of the UNESCO City of Literature, we have been talking about such a spacious and inclusive concept for all the various literary phenomena present in Krakow,” said Mayor Majchrowski. The development of “Planet Lem” fulfils the most important of Krakow’s declarations from the admission application to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. The facility will be operated by the Krakow Festival Office, which oversees the investment process on behalf of the City.

The project was supported not only by various literary circles in Krakow, including writers gathered around the Honorary Council of Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature, representatives of the Polish Language Council and a coalition of Polish linguists represented by the Foundation for the Museum of Polish Language, representatives of UNESCO Cities of Literature from all over the world, but also numerous guests of Krakow literary festivals, booksellers, publishers and translators.

Poland’s first Centre for Literature and Language

The literary centre in the Salt Store will be the first place in Poland devoted to the modern reflection on language. The establishment of the Centre was unanimously supported by the Polish Language Council at the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and all important linguistic communities in Poland. The idea of a modern centre for language stems from the conviction that its importance in the life of cultures and societies remains unchanged. There are interdisciplinary institutions around the world that use the latest technologies, interactive installations and spatial objects in their mission to present linguistic issues in a way that is accessible to a wide range of audiences. Languages such as Spanish (Casa del lector in Madrid and Museo del Libro y de la Lengua in Buenos Aires), Portuguese (Museu da Língua Portuguesa in São Paulo) and Lithuanian (Lietuvių Kalbos Muziejus in Vilnius) already have their own museums.

The enormous, but still little known and often underestimated richness of Polish history and the variety of phenomena occurring in the contemporary Polish language may be the starting point for a narrative including not only native speakers, but also Polish communities all over the world and all those interested in learning and exploring the language as the most perfect tool for communication.

International architectural competition

The announcement of the investment coincides with the inauguration of the international architectural and urban competition for the concept of the Centre, organised in cooperation with the Krakow Branch of the Association of Polish Architects. The two-stage competition, addressed to studios from all over the world, includes the revitalisation of the former salt store building and the construction of a new building or a complex of buildings on its eastern side.

The competition jury chaired by Piotr Lewicki will comprise architects experienced in cultural projects, including Alberto Veiga from Barrozzi/Veiga Studio (Szczecin Philharmonic, Auditorio Águilas, concert halls in Munich and Edinburgh, the Museum of Fine Arts in Chur, Switzerland) and Zbigniew Maćków (revitalisation of the Main Railway Station in Wrocław, author of the famous project Church). Beauty and Kitsch, which was carried out within the framework of the programme of the European Capital of Culture 2016 in Wrocław. The deadline for submitting applications for admission to the competition was set for the 28th of September, and the results will be announced in March 2019.

The investment will be carried out in 2019-2022. The opening of the facility, planned for 2022, will begin a new chapter in the promotion of Stanisław Lem’s work and will complete the Lem 2021 cultural and educational project carried out under the auspices of Krakow – UNESCO City of Literature programme in connection with the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth in 2021.

The investment will be financed mainly from municipal funds; however, the organisers declare their efforts to obtain external funds, included the planned call for proposals for the Norway Grants. “Planet Lem” meets all the requirements for social and cultural investments. We follow the example of similar literary and creative centres that have been successfully operating for years in the world – Federation Square in Melbourne, Casa del lector in Madrid, Writers’ Centre in Norwich, German houses of literature. We are convinced that Krakow, as a city with a special literary identity and one of the cradles of Polish language, deserves to have a place which will properly highlight and showcase these traditions, and at the same time a space for further promotion of literature and development of knowledge about language,” Mayor Majchrowski concluded.

MORE INFO – HERE

For the third time, Miłosz Festival will be accompanied by OFF Miłosz, which is dedicated to independent and experimental poetic works. So what can fans expect this year? Wait no more!

Direct, engaging and inspiring; OFF Miłosz is about the cutting-edge generation. We cross boundaries between the creator and the audience, inviting both to interact, create and experience poetry together. This year we’ve got great names on the docket: Hera Lindsay Bird (New Zealand), Rudka Zydel (Poland), Grigory Semenchuk (Ukraine), Radosław Jurczak (Poland), Georgina Wilding (Great Britain), Mark Pajak (Great Britain), Kira Pietrek (Poland) and Nathan Curnow and Geoffrey Williams (Australia).

And if that’s not enough, Tyehimba Jess, American poet, slammer and academic, awarded one of the most important literary distinctions – the Pulitzer Prize for the volume Olio – will join us as well for an event you won’t want to miss.

As if we could stop there! You will be able to meet the writers behind the new issues of two literary magazines: WIDMA and KONTENT, which will premiere during OFF Miłosz. Both regularly provide readers with a fabulous dose of poetry, so it will be no different in June – prepare yourselves for a lot of literary sensations!

Slam in Magazyn Kultury café, becomes even more unique during OFF Miłosz; it is absolutely the heart of the whole four-day event. It will be bold, uncompromising and unpredictable, and the last word will as usual belong to the public!

OFF Miłosz is not only about the artists, but also about the audience. That is why this year one of the events will be programmed by the public! More precisely, by a group of students from Kraków high schools that have been participating in the Słowo w Słowo. Poetry is My Language project since November. What will it look like? Just come and see!

We have also prepared something for those who are involved in organizing literary events for young people every day. During the OFF Miłosz, an international workshop about audience development among young people will take place. Good practices will be shared by Association KROKODIL (Serbia), Round House (Great Britain) and Royal Opera House Bridge (Great Britain), among others.
We invite you to all the events of OFF Miłosz which will take place on June 7-10, 2018. Let’s push the limits for a third time and discover new poetry together!

Meetings with authors, poems reading, discussions and debates – on 7-10 June Krakow, for the seventh time, will become the world capital of poetry. Miłosz Festival 2018 will be an opportunity to meet prominent Polish authors, such as Marek Krystian Emanuel Baczewski, Marzanna Bogumiła Kielar, Marcin Baran and Urszula Kozioł, as well as foreign guests, including Jane Hirshfield and Ron Padgett (USA), Eugenijus Ališanka (Lithuania), Katja Gorečan (Slovenia), Stepanova (Russia) and Olvido García Valdés (Spain). Artistic director of the festival is poet and literary critic Krzysztof Siwczyk.

“A year of the hunter is the motto of the upcoming Miłosz Festival edition in Krakow. A Year of the Hunter by Czesław Miłosz is a unique diary presenting one year of a mature poet’s life and providing a model of world perception that is topical today. We experience a radically fragmentary reality. The world seems perceptible only for a fleeting moment of the present, amid a growing sense of threat we feel. We strive to build our identity in close contact with reality that keeps slipping away from us. In fact we do not know if reality is a projection of our fears and imagination or if it contains a solid core of sense that we can discover through literature” – says Krzysztof Siwczyk, artistic director of the festival.

Painting portraits of his opponents (but also his fellows) in A Year of the Hunter, Czesław Miłosz presents a polyphony of clashing ideas and literary aesthetics. In so doing, he does not forgo voicing his sometimes staunch and controversial views. A fluctuating amplitude of dispute concerning literature, ethics, social matters, stance on one’s homeland, habitable zone or metaphysics enables us to recognise the character of times we live in. The language of the dispute is at stake.

“Poetry is a starting point for discussion because it opens our eyes and sharpens our attention to the various ways of describing the world we happen to share. Poetry can also become the ending point, providing a unique chance for us to reach agreement or at least find a common ground among this multitude of languages, systems of values and beliefs” – says Olga Brzezińska, president of the City of Literature Foundation and programme director of the festival organised together with the Krakow Festival Office.

In every act of reading or writing we hunt the world that invariably slips away. Every day we experience the dread of role-shifting in this hunt. Sometimes we are game, when ideological input reduces the complex picture of reality to simple, existential recipes, depriving us of the right to complexity in our attitudes and choices. We become hunters when we try to implant our world perception in others, disregarding dialogue and respect for the otherness of somebody’s language and values expressed in that language. There is one thing that unites us: we all play a game of fickle rules, in which the stake is either co-existence amid differences or a blind violence of institutionally declared truths.

“The Miłosz Festival is a meeting of various poetic privacies and outstanding literary individualities” says Izabela Helbin, director of the Krakow Festival Office, “Crowds of readers come to Krakow to meet highly esteemed writers. It will be likewise this year, and the presence of authors from numerous countries will make Krakow a place where poetry is discussed in various languages.”

Eminent poets will be visiting Krakow, representing six languages and as many different visions of literature. Guests from abroad will include: Jane Hirshfield and Ron Padgett from the USA, Eugenijus Ališanka from Lithuania, Katja Gorečan from Slovenia, Maria Stepanova  from Russia and Olvido García Valdés from Spain. Their multi-voice narrative will be enhanced by Polish poets: Marek Baczewski, Marcin Baran, Tomasz Bąk, Jerzy Jarniewicz, Marzanna Bogumiła Kielar, Urszula Kozioł, Joanna Oparek, Andrzej Szuba and Ilona Witkowska. We hope that, as every year, the Miłosz Festival will become a splendid celebration of poetry covering different traditions, a time for meeting and conversation about literature, ideas and the world. We also believe it will be a time of multi-voice narrative rather than a rhetoric of exclusion and political stigmatisation.

MEET THE GUESTS OF MIŁOSZ FESTIVAL 2018

The course of the festival will also be set by remarkable graphics, in which ubiquitous red and black dots refer to the rhythm of days throughout the year. The author of this concept, Tomek Budzyń, explains: “There are 365 dots like days in a calendar, some overlap, some elongate and others seem to elude our understanding of order. Their strong colours refer to conflicting world views but also remain in a constant dialogue.”

Organisers of the festival are: the City of Krakow, Krakow Festival Office and the City of Literature Foundation.

More information on the festival and the upcoming events soon to be found at: www.miloszfestival.pl

Co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage

To mark this year’s World Poetry Day, Krakow UNESCO City of Literature and our colleagues across the globe are linking up to hold simultaneous literary events in 13 UNESCO Cities of Literature.

Celebrated yearly on March 21^st, World Poetry Day is the occasion to honour poets and celebrate one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression. Practiced throughout history – in every culture and on every continent – poetry speaks to our common humanity and our shared values, transforming the simplest of poems into a powerful catalyst for intercultural dialogue and peace. It is an art form that, more than any other, demonstrates the transformative power of words.

The following flagship events celebrating the breadth and diversity of the UNESCO Cities’ poets are taking place across the world on 21 March:

• A long-range poetry recital led by 60 poets in 24 libraries in the city of Granada involving poets from Nottingham and Ljubljana, Georgina Wilding and Anja Golob respectively. Goodwill Ambassador for UNESCO Creative Cities, Italian poet Maria Francesca Merloni, will attend the event.
• Heidelberg have displayed 45 poems written by 22 poets inside public trams. A special poetic tramwill travel across the city with regular stops, while every 10 minutes another poet will make the ride a poetic journey, reciting poetry to passengers.
• Similarly, in Tartu, audiences will be taken on a Poetry Route movement across the city with 15 poetry performances taking place in 7 locations. Additional readings involving poets and high school students will be performed throughout the day.
• A wealth of poetry activities will take place in Krakow including a walking Poetry Song Trail, a multi-poetry presentation of new poems projected on the façade of a building on Bracka St, and the programme announcement of this year’s Milosz Poetry Festival.
• Heidelberg House in Heidelberg’s French twin city Montpellier will present a poetic evening of German poetry and its impact on today’s French poetic artworks.
• Barcelona will host a visual poetry workshop and events with Maria Isern and Guillem Gavaldà, prize-winners of the Francesc Garriga Poetry Prize.
• Poetry events and artistic performances are taking place in Iowa City and Prague.
• Reykjavik will feature a Children’s Poetry Morning, a Poetic Lunch Hour and finish with a Poetry Happening in the HÓLAVALLAGARÐUR CEMETARY. 

A number of poetry live-stream and television broadcasts will take place in

• Obidos at the medieval gate of the town, by local poet Armando da Silva Carvalho.
• Edinburgh with local poets writing throughout the day and literary podcasts shared on the hour, each one with a different theme and international audience from Edinburgh City of Literature’s Facebook and Twitter channels.
• Bookshops, coffee shops and the main cultural streets of Baghdad.
• Krakow a Facebook Live tour of bookstores by a Krakow-based poet.

Preceding World Poetry Day on 19^th March, Dublin will be hosting a Poetry and Spoken Word Trail where audiences will enjoy exceptional performances from an array of emerging and established poets

This World Poetry Day, follow the social conversation using #WPD2018 and #CitiesofLitPoetry and experience creative and poetic moments in a City of Literature near you.

MORE INFORMATION

UNESCO’s City of Literature programme is part of a wider Creative Cities Network that was launched in 2004 and is currently made up of 180 UNESCO Creative Cities globally. As of 2017, the UNESCO Cities of Literature network of 28 cities represents 6 continents and 23 countries, and a combined population of over 26 million, 1250 libraries, 130 literary festivals and over 1200 bookshops. The Network is active in making the literary and creative sectors of cities thrive through the development and implementation of a shared global strategy, which aims to promote the network, share good practice, and ensure that literature reaches diverse audiences.

About World Poetry Day: World Poetry Day is on 21 March, and was first declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999, with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard.

Kholoud Charaf, Syrian poet and art critic, as well as a social activist looking for better opportunities for women and children who survived the war became a scholarship holder of the City of Krakow as part of the ICORN program – the International Cities of Refuge Network. The organizers of her residency are the City of Krakow, the Krakow Festival Office and the Villa Decius Association.

Kholoud Charaf comes from Al Mjemr in the south of Syria. In 2003, she graduated from the University of Damascus and obtained a diploma as a medical technician. In  2013-2015 she worked as the head of the medical unit at the women’s ward in the central Suwayda prison. For almost a year, she also worked as an English teacher at the Syrian Children’s Education Institute, with children who had no chance of formal education due to the ongoing war in this country. She also participated in the psychological support course organized by Syrian Red Cross in 2013.

As a poet, Charaf has published one volume entitled The Remains of the Butterfly, published by Takween Publishing House in 2016. Th originality of literary images and metaphors and the author’s ability to transform the difficult events of war into beautiful, imaginary worlds generated from memories was well-appreciated by critics.

Currently Charaf is working on her second collection of poetry, which will be titled As If I was Born to Escape the War and a book documenting the atrocities of war in southern Syria. As an art critic, Charaf wrote many reviews of contemporary art exhibitions by Syrian and Arab artists.

Krakow – City of Literature, City of Refuge

Krakow joined ICORN in 2011 (the Miłosz Year) and was the first member of this network from Central and Eastern Europe. The ICORN network, offering shelter to writers and human rights defenders who, due to persecution, cannot live and create freely in their own country, was founded in 2005 in Norway.

ICORN is an ever-growing network of nearly 70 cities, and its activity is based on the defense of freedoms of speech, opinion and expression and international solidarity. During its 10 years of operation,  the ICORN network has provided temporary shelter for several hundred writers, intellectuals, bloggers and human rights activists. The network also works with national governments and many organizations around the world.

International cooperation within the ICORN network occupies a strategic position in the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature program and its development strategy covering 10 thematic areas, including promoting the connection between literature and human rights.

For the fifth time, Krakow streets will host literary walks – an event of undying popularity among Cracovians and readers across the globe! Both the programme’s timeframe (March–November) and agenda will be expanded. The new programme will combine its cultural staples with new figures and locations. Literary walks will traditionally be held on the last Saturday of each month.

The 5^th literary walk season will get a head start this year: the first walk will pass through the new Halina Poświatowska Route on 21 March. World Poetry Day celebrations will take us to places where the poet lived, acquired education, wrote poems, had love affairs and lived life to the fullest, often at the expense of her health.

The 2018 literary walk programme falls on the Zbigniew Herbert Year and Dorota Terakowska’s 80^th birth anniversary, that’s why walks along the Zbigniew Herbert Route (June) and the Dorota Terakowska Route (April) are an absolute must. As Krakow was the hub of Young Poland’s literary and artistic life, the walk route map will be updated to include places related to Young Poland (July) and Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński (August). In an attempt to recreate that period’s atmosphere, the walk will end in Jama Michalika with an absinthe toast to: Eviva l’arte!

The Literature for Children Festival (November) will see the introduction of the new Legends for Children Route, while the World Book and Copyright Day will initiate the Book in Krakow Route. Top literary walks will stay on the agenda: the Stanisław Wyspiański Route (May), the Children’s Literature Route (June, to celebrate Children’s Day), the Wisława Szymborska Route (September) and the Stanisław Lem Route (to celebrate Lem’s Birthday). To uphold tradition, the Miłosz and Conrad Festivals will include walks along the Czesław Miłosz (June) and Joseph Conrad (October) Routes.

Agnieszka Pudełko, Anna Hojwa, Łucja Malec-Kornajew and Grzegorz Jankowicz are just some of our outstanding guides.

All walks are free, but require prior registration due to limited availability and high interest. Please register via e-mail at: spacery@miastoliteratury.pl. The number of participants is limited, so be quick!

Schedule:

• 21 March – Halina Poświatowska (World Poetry Day)
• 23 April – Book in Cracow (World Book and Copyright Day)
• 28 April – Dorota Terakowska
• 26 May – Stanisław Wyspiański
• 02 June – Children’s Literature (Children’s Day)
• 09 June – Czesław Miłosz (Miłosz Festival)
• 30 June – Zbigniew Herbert
• 28 July – Young Poland
• 25 August – Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński
• 08 September – Stanisław Lem (Lem’s Birthday)
• 29 September – Wisława Szymborska
• 27 October – Joseph Conrad (Conrad Festival)
• 24 November – Legends for Children (Literature for Children Festival)

This year, like every other year, the International Vilnius Book Fair (22–25.02.2018) will host, at the Vilnius Litexpo Congress and Exhibition Centre, an interesting and diverse presentation of Polish literature prepared by the Polish Institute in Vilnius and its Polish and Lithuanian partners. Krakow UNESCO City of Literature will also participate in the fair.

“Books from Poland – understanding the world” will be the motto of Poland’s stand. In 2018, the Polish Institute in Vilnius will focus on Poland’s greatest literary achievements: Polish Nobel Prize winners, mainly Krakow-based Czesław Miłosz and Wisława Szymborska.

Krakow’s “Znak”, one of Poland’s oldest and largest publishing houses, will present its publishing record at the fair.

The Krakow Festival Office, operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature programme, will present its literary activity to fair participants. Europe’s intellectual and cultural centre offers a rich cultural programme related to i.a. literature promotion. Krakow hosts such acclaimed festivals as the Miłosz Festival or the Conrad Festival, and awards the Trans-Atlantyk Prize or the Wisława Szymborska Poetry Award. That’s why Krakow’s symbol, the Wawel Dragon, will exercise “patronage” over the Polish Institute in Vilnius stand.

Moreover, the “Wisława Szymborska. Collages” exhibition, centred on a relatively unknown aspect of the Polish Nobel Prize winner’s art, will open on Feb 26 at 6.00 p.m. at the M. Mažvydas Lithuanian National Library in Vilnius.

Events recommended by Krakow UNESCO City of Literature: Friday, 23 February, 3.00 p.m.

Screening of Wisława Szymborska’s biopic “Napisane życie” (“Written Life”). Introduction by dr Irena Fedorowicz (cinema room). Polish film with Lithuanian subtitles.

Saturday, 24 February, 2.00 p.m.

“Only in Krakow!” /Speakers: Jerzy Illg, Joanna Gromek, Urszula Chwalba, Donatas Puslys / room 5.3. / Meeting held in Polish and Lithuanian with simultaneous Polish-Lithuanian interpretation.

Organiser: Polish Institute in Vilnius

Partners: Book Institute Poland, Krakow Festival Office, Znak publishing house, Warstwy publishing house, Adamada publishing house, Mintis publishing house, Lithuanian Association for Writers publishing house, Kraina Książek bookstore, Terra Publica Publishing House, 700 eilučių publishing house, Kino pavasaris Festival, Wisława Szymborska Foundation.

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