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WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA 1923-2012

WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA 1923-2012. Poet, essayist, l iterary critic and translator of French poetry. . She won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1996, becoming the fourth Pole to do so after Henryk Sienkiewicz (1905), W ł adys ł aw Reymont (1924 ) and Czes ł aw Mi ł osz (1980). .

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WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA 1923-2012

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  1. WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA1923-2012

  2. Poet,essayist, literarycritic and translator of French poetry. • She won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1996, becoming the fourth Pole to do so after Henryk Sienkiewicz (1905), Władysław Reymont (1924)and Czesław Miłosz(1980). Photo by JacekBednarczyk / Poland Associated Press

  3. BIOGRAPHY OF THE POET Born in Kórnik (near Poznań) in 1923, as one of two daughters of WincentySzymborski and Anna née Rottermund. She moved to Kraków with her family at the age of eight, where she lived until her death. In 1943, during World War II, she took up a job as a clerkin a railroad company to avoid transportation to a labour camp in Germany. After the war, Szymborska attended the Jagiellonian University, studying Polish literature and sociology.

  4. Szymborskagave up her studies in order to earn a living in the editorial offices of cultural periodicals. From 1953 until 1968 she was the head of the poetry department of "ŻycieLiterackie" in Kraków. She also took it in turns with WłodzimierzMaciąg to run a column called "PocztaLiteracka" ("Literary post”).She collaborated with „TygodnikPowszechny" from 1983, and became involved with the monthly "NaGłos" ("OutLoud"). During 1953-1981 she worked as poetry editor and columnist in the Kraków literary weekly „ŻycieLiterackie" where the series of her essays "Lekturynadobowiązkowe" (“Non-Required Reading”) appeared.

  5. She married the poet Adam Włodek in 1948. Their marriage ended in 1954, but they remained friends after their divorce. Szymborska became involved with the writer KornelFilipowicz fifteen years later. Theynevermarried and livedseparately. Szymborska made her début in March 1945 with a poem “I am Looking for a Word”in the daily “DziennikPolski”.

  6. With the publication in 1957 of “Calling Out to Yeti”, Szymborska putasideallofficiallyinspiredthemesrelated to socialistideology (Poland was undercommunist regime atthattime) and began to findherownvoice in poetry. The appearance in 1967 of “A Million Laughs, Bright Hope” began what we might call her mature period, which is marked, thematically, by a consideration of man’s situation in the universe.

  7. Her poetry collections sell in numbers usually associated with popular novels. “View with a Grain of Sand”, Szymborska's first collection after winning the Nobel prize, was published in an edition of 120,000 in the U.S., where a popular volume of poetry might sell 20,000 copies. The German edition of 60,000, translated by Karl Dedicus, set sales records. The Swedish edition, translated by Andres Bodegard, numbered over 10,000 copies.

  8. WHAT WAS SHE LIKE? She was a modest, discreet and playful person whoenjoyed the company of herclosestfriends. Shewrotefunnylimericks, collectedtrinkets, oldpostcards and magazines, and organisedlotteries in which one could win small prizes. Her dislike for giving interviews and talking about herself was well-known. Receiving the Nobel Prize in 1996, which she humorously considered “the Stckholm tragedy,” did not change her as a person and as a poet.However, it was not until 2002 thathernextvolume of poetry“Moment” came out.

  9. The poet liked telling anecdotes and jokes. One of them is presentedin the video trailer for J. A. Jansen’s documentary “End and Beginning - Meeting WislawaSzymborska” on YouTube(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gVnb3XXw9Hg). Wisława Szymborska (Fot. Mateusz Skwarczek / Agencja Gazeta)

  10. “Solong as thatwoman from the Rijksmuseum in paintedquiet and concentration keepspouringmilkdayafterday from the pitcher to the bowl the World hasn’tearned the world’s end.” (“Vermeer”) “The Milkmaid” by Johannes Vermeer

  11. HER POETRY The Nobel Prize in Literature 1996 was awarded to WisławaSzymborska„(…) for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality.” 1 SorenAndersson/AssociatedPress

  12. She was called by Stanisław Żak “(…) a great moralist strongly rooted in the intellectual tradition and culture of Poland and Europe.” 2Her poetryalsoreflectswidereading in importantphilosophicalliterature. Szymborska explores in her poemsdifficult and dramatic themes of human experience including love, war and death. Despite these serious subjects, her poems are comprehensible for the general reader. This is because of their languagewhichissimple but rich in dialogues, proverbs,paradoxes and neologisms. It employs humour, irony and grotesque as poetic devices. Thereare no ‘unpoetic’ themes for the poet and anythingmay be of interests to her; anonion (“The Onion”), a stone (“Conversation with a Stone”) or the number pi (“Pi”).

  13. The attitude of WisławaSzymborska, her approach to writing and to life, is well illustrated by her Nobel Lecture, "The Poet and the World", delivered by her on 7 December 1996. In her speech, she expressed her astonishment at this world- ”(…) this measureless theater to which we’ve got reserved tickets (…)”- its vastness, diversity, richness and its indifference to pain and suffering. Therefore, she explains, the work of poets is cut out for them. They are a group of people who should not be afraid to admit that they only know and understand the world verylittle.

  14. In her Nobel speech, she spoke of the extraordinary nature of life, of how she would love to tell Ecclesiastes that “There's nothing new under the sun: that's what you wrote, Ecclesiastes. But you yourself were born new under the sun", and of how, "in the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone's existence in this world.” 3 Szymborska appears in herpoetry as anamazed and attentiveobservantwhoseesthings as if for the firsttime.

  15. “A miracle (what else can you call it): the sun rose today at three fourteen a.m. and will set tonight at one past eight A miracle that's lost on us: the hand actually has fewer than six fingers but still it's got more than four. An extra miracle, extra and ordinary: the unthinkable can be thought.” (“Miracle Fair”)

  16. Szymborska was once asked by Marian Stala why she doesn’t like pathos. Her answer may serve as a general artistic statement: "When I write I always feel as if somebody was standing behind me and making funny faces. That is why I always keep focused and I avoid, as much as I may, big words".4 Therefore, we believethat the persona of herpoemsissomeonefamiliar to us, whospeaks on behalf of anordinaryman, orsomeonewhotalks to us.

  17. Szymborska herselfwritesaboutherpoeticplayfulness and herattitude to poetry in a fewpoems: “Don't bear me ill will, speech, that I borrow weighty words, then labor heavily so that they may seem light.” (“Under One Small Star”) “The joy of writing. The power of preserving. Revenge of a mortal hand.” (“The Joy of Writing”) Both seriousness and humourareentitled to equalrights in herpoetry. My identifyingfeatures arerapture and despair. (“Sky”)

  18. “Life While-You-Wait. Performance without rehearsal. Body without alterations. Head without premeditation. I know nothing of the role I play. I only know it's mine. I can't exchange it. I have to guess on the spot just what this play's all about. (…) Oh no, there's no question, this must be the premiere. And whatever I do will become forever what I've done.” (“Life While-You-Wait”)

  19. Prizes and Awards The City of Kraków Prize for Literature, 1954 The PolishMinistry of CulturePrize, 1996 The Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Award, New York, 1972 • The Kallenbach’s Foundation Prize, Switzerland, 1990 • The Goethe Prize, Frankfurt, 1991 The Herder Award, Vienna, 1995 The titleof Honorary Doctor of Letters of Poznań University, 1995 The Polish PEN Club prize, 1996 Nobel Prize for Literature, Stockholm, 1996 Order of the White Eagle, Kraków, 2011 WisławaSzymborska and President BronisławKomorowskiat the Order of the White Eagle ceremony

  20. “There's no life that couldn't be immortal if only for a moment. Death always arrives by that very moment too late. In vain it tugs at the knob of the invisible door. As far as you've come can't be undone.” ("On Death, Without Exaggeration”) Wisława Szymborska died on 1st of February 2012

  21. Wisława Szymborska and Michał Rusinek-former secretary of the poet and current chairman of the WisławaSzymborskaFoundation. A literaryawardwill be funded from the estate of Wisława Szymborska. There are also ideas of establishing a museum of literature dedicated to the poet in the city of Kraków.

  22. Major works by Wisława Szymborska 1952: Dlatego żyjemy ("That'sWhy We AreAlive") 1954: Pytania zadawane sobie ("QuestioningYourself") 1957: Wołanie do Yeti ("Calling Out to Yeti") 1962: Sól ("Salt") 1966: 101 wierszy ("101 Poems") 1967: Sto pociech ("No End of Fun") 1967: Poezje wybrane ("SelectedPoetry") 1972: Wszelki wypadek ("CouldHave") 1976: Wielka liczba ("A LargeNumber") 1986: Ludzie na moście ("People on the Bridge") 1989: Poezje: Poems, bilingualPolish-Englishedition 1992: Lektury nadobowiązkowe ("Non-required Reading") 1993: Koniec i początek ("TheEnd and theBeginning") 1996: Widok z ziarnkiem piasku ("Viewwith a Grain of Sand") 1997: Sto wierszy – sto pociech ("100 Poems – 100 Happinesses") 2002: Chwila ("Moment") 2003: Rymowanki dla dużych dzieci ("Rhymes for Big Kids") 2005: Dwukropek ("Colon") 2009: Tutaj ("Here")

  23. Materialsources 1.TrotzigB., Award Ceremony Speech 2. Żak S. [in:] “Indefinable Szymborska,” Idczak K. 3. SzymborskaW. “The Poet and The World” 4. Szymborska W. [in:] “Wisława Szymborska,” Kowalczyk J. R. 5. http://www.thenews.pl/1/11/Artykul/116776, Szymborska-Poetry-Prize-to-be-Polands-most-generous-literary-award- 6. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1996/szymborska-lecture.html http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1996/szymborska-lecture.html Photograps Vermeer J. „The Milkmaid,” http://www.essentialvermeer.com/catalogue/milkmaid.html 2. http://www.picsearch.com/pictures/Celebrities/ Nobel%20Prize%20Winners/Literature/Literature%20Rom%20-%20Y/Wislawa%20Szymborska.html Music Chopin, Mazurka Op. 24 No. 1 in G minor, Roberto Carnevale Carter Burwell- Esme’sFavourite The poems by Wisława Szymborska, used in thispresentation, weretranslatedinto English by Clare Cavanagh and Stanisław Barańczak. The poem “Vermeer” was translated by Clare Cavanagh.

  24. Thankyouvery much for yourattention Jolanta Olchawa Bartłomiej Chrustek Students from Zespół Szkół nr 1 im. J. Piłsudskiego in Limanowa, Poland

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