Joy, anger, worry, courage . . . we all experience a vast array of feelings. They influence our thoughts and actions every day. But they’re intangible and invisible, making feelings a difficult concept to grasp, especially for the very young. So, what if feelings were re-imagined as hairy little creatures? What Feelings Do When No … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem originally published in Polish in 1961 first translated into English from the French version (by Jean-Michel Jasiensko, 1966) by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox (1970) first direct Polish-to-English translation by Bill Johnston (2011) *contains spoilers Much has been written about Solaris over the years, including the differences between the Polish-to-French-to-English translation … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: Solaris
The Old Axolotl: Hardware Dreams by Jacek Dukaj translated from the Polish by Stanley Bill Allegro March 16, 2015 160 pages This isn’t your grandfather’s reading experience, and that’s the point. Jacek Dukaj, Poland’s most famous living sci-fi writer, has created a multi-dimensional text that explores what it means to be a human versus a … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Old Axolotl: Hardware Dreams
When a translated book for children makes the shortlist of an award also open to grown-up books, my heart leaps. Because yes, children’s literature is literature. And translators of children’s books need plenty of credit and support for their careers, made tenuous by the (currently—we can change this) low demand for #worldkidlit translated into English. … Continue reading A Warwick Prize Shortlist and Clementine Loves Red
Scattering the Dark offers a lively selection of Poland’s women poets writing before and after the fall of communism. In eight thematic chapters, this book reveals how the influential literary tradition of Miłosz and Szymborska continues to evolve as younger generations turn from their country’s tragic history to a poetry of ordinary experience and language … Continue reading Title Pick: Scattering the Dark: An Anthology of Polish Women Poets
Raphael’s masterpiece, Portrait of a Young Man, has been missing from a Kraków art gallery since the Second World War. Art historian Zofia Lorentz, art dealer Karol Boznański, special services Major Anatol Gmitruk and Swedish art thief Lisa Tolgfors have been teamed up and commissioned by the Polish government to steal the painting from a … Continue reading Excerpt: PRICELESS by Zygmunt Miłoszewski
Excerpt from Aperture by Jacek Dehnel, translated by Karen Kovacik, forthcoming from Zephyr Press in June 2018 (ISBN: 978-1938890949): Matzevot Jewish Cemetery, Kraków Here letter and stone find fulfillment: a snail inlays ornamental tracing with silver thread. And the apple tree’s soft shadow falls over shattered slabs. Here grass and epoch find fulfillment. The hands … Continue reading Excerpt: Aperture by Jacek Dehnel
The Duchy of Warsaw, 1807-1815 is the first academic history of the state established by Napoleon in pre-partitioned Poland at the turn of the 19th century. The book examines the political, social and cultural dynamics of the Duchy and considers its role in Napoleon's wider empire and the politics he engaged in across the European … Continue reading Title Pick: The Duchy of Warsaw, 1807-1815, by Jaroslaw Czubaty
These extracts are from Chapter 8, Georgia: Stalin’s Vestal Virgins. The Georgian women who work at the Stalin museum describe their undying love for the infamous dictator. “He comes to me at night. He gazes at me, puffs on his pipe, and twirls his mustache. He smiles, and then heads for the door. Then I … Continue reading Excerpt: Dancing Bears by Witold Szabłowski
PEN Atlas editor Tasja Dorkofikis interviews Hanna Krall, author of Chasing the Kings of Hearts, a book which recreates the Holocaust not as an historical event but as a terrifying shared experience. Her literary reportage about the Holocaust is unparalleled in its power and immediacy and is available in the UK for the first time Interview translated from … Continue reading Q&A – Hanna Krall, author of Chasing the King of Hearts
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 