On Sunday, 5 October, people in Leicester will have the chance to experience a selection of the writings of Polish Nobel laureate, Wislawa Szymborska, whilst raising funds for LOROS
Wislawa Szymborska is one of the finest Polish poets, translated into many languages. The award of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Literature gave her a very special position on the international and Polish stage. All Poland recited her poem “A cat in an empty flat” when she died in 2012. She spoke with a voice which united people.
The idea of the poetry event “Smiling beyond salvation” is the result of discussions between Jo Twist, local poet and activist and Magdalena Korytkowska, a member of the large Polish community living in Leicester. They have worked together to create a unique translation of Szymborska’s poetry with fresh English translation alongside the Polish original and results in showing the Nobel Prize winner’s poems in a completely different light.
The event has been created for everyone, not just poetry fans; people attending the event will also get to hear some of the discussions that led to and accompanied Magda and Jo's efforts to translate the poems from Polish to English.
Magdalena said: “We are very grateful to Everybody’s Reading Festival steering group for including our event in this year’s programme. Jo and I have been involved in the Festival in previous years (that’s how we met!) but it’s the first project we have worked on together. I deeply enjoyed every single minute of our work on translations – it was a fantastic adventure and an exciting game of words. I look forward to sharing this with the audience.”
Jo said: “Poetry is a word game, creating, recreating, a whole, small world. “Szymborska plays with the metaphysical and physical detail, giving lists of objects a surreal significance. She plays with history and everyday heartbreak, always remaining brave. She plays with the meaning of her languages' idioms, revealing something unique. Poetry is perhaps impossible to translate, but we have tried.”
Tickets cost £3 each and all proceeds will go to LOROS.
For further information,please contact Magda on 07576531511 or email her here
You can also visit their event facebook page here
