2021

January

  • On 27 January, which is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day (announced in 2005 by the United Nations’ General Assembly), the Lenkijos institutas Vilniuje – the Polish Institute in Vilnius – in cooperation with the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, showed a short film featuring Szymborska’s poem “Still” recited by Jovita Jankelaitytė. The video recording was made in front of the monument commemorating the victims of Nazi crimes in Paneriai outside Vilnius. It can be viewed on the YouTube channel of the Polish Institute in Vilnius and on Facebook @Wisława Szymborska.

February

  • The Wisława Szymborska Foundation was nominated in the Lubimyczytac.pl website’s Book of the Year poll in the Foundation/Association of the Year 2020 category for promoting reading and supporting authors and artists.

March

  • The call for submissions for the first Hestia Literary Journey competition was announced with the view to promoting classical forms in children’s literature. The competition is organized by the Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation, with the Wisława Szymborska Foundation as its partner.
  • The results of the Lubimyczytac.pl poll were announced: the popular vote won our Foundation a prize of 40,000 zloty, which we will use to support people of letters.
  • Roman Honet’s book of poems świat był mój (the world was mine), winner of the 2015 Wisława Szymborska Award, was published by Heliks in Serbia as Svet je bio moj in Serbian translation by Biserka Rajčić.
  • The Adam Włodek Award for 2020 was granted to Urszula Honek, Paweł Kaczmarski, and Wojciech Szot.
  • Call for candidates for Literary Residencies in Wisława Szymborska’s flat. ERGO Hestia is the Programme Sponsor. The project targets authors, poets, translators, editors, and researchers. Its participants have the use of the Nobel Laureate’s last dwelling and receive a stipend. More information is available at mieszkanieszymborskiej.pl.
  • Adam Zagajewski died. An excellent poet, essayist, and translator appreciated all over the world, and a wonderful person, he was also a friend of Wisława Szymborska’s. 

April

  • Launch of the limited collection LAMY Safari pen featuring Wisława Szymborska’s signature, in a special edition called Lamy “The Joy of Writing”.
  • Release of the Polish Foreign Ministry’s publication Outstanding Polish Women, including an entry on Wisława Szymborska.
  • The Wisława Szymborska Foundation was engaged in the Poems in the City project, promoting debate on current social issues in poetic form. It was the fifth iteration of this international project, involving presentations of 20 poems from the participating 20 countries on the project website and in social media.
  • The Wrocławski Dom Literatury (Wroclaw House of Literature), acting in collaboration with the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, announced a call for candidates for the programme of residencies based in Szymborska’s flat for female poets from Lower Silesia called “A Poetess in an Empty Flat: Residencies at Szymborska’s”.

May

  • Joanna Ostrowska and Andrzej Titkow were selected as residents of Wisława Szymborska’s flat in Krakow as part of the Literary Residencies project. ERGO Hestia is the Project Partner. Each resident is to spend four weeks at Szymborska’s flat at dates agreed with the organizer, in order to complete their own literary project. The organizer provides a stipend of 2,000 zloty in addition to refunding travel fares and arranges meetings with readers as well as access to the Wisława Szymborska Archive at the Jagiellonian Library, if requested.
  • The Wisława Szymborska Award Committee has selected two lists of five books to be nominated for the Award. The nominated books which had been published in 2019 were:
    – Anna Adamowicz, Animalia, Biuro Literackie
    – Justyna Bargielska, Dziecko z darów, Wydawnictwo Wolno
    – Jakub Kornhauser, Dziewięć dni w ścianie, Wydawnictwo WBPiCAK
    – Joanna Mueller & Joanna Łańcucka, Waruj, Biuro Literackie
    – Michał Sobol, Wieść, Nisza
  • The nominated books which had been published in 2020 were:
    – Genowefa Jakubowska-Fijałkowska, Rośliny mięsożerne, Instytut Mikołowski im. Rafała Wojaczka
    – Adam Kaczanowski, Zabawne i zbawienne, Biuro Literackie
    – Tomasz Różycki, Kapitan X, Wydawnictwo a5 Mirka Szychowiak, Uwaga, obiekt monitorowany, wydawnictwo j.
    – Urszula Zajączkowska, Piach, Wydawnictwo Warstwy
  • Ništa obično. Biografija Vislave Šimborske (Nic zwyczajnego) by Michał Rusinek, W. Szymborska’s former secretary, was published by Treći Trg in Serbia, in Serbian translation by Biserka Rajčić.

June

  • Through the efforts of the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, Wydawnictwo Znak, and Piql Polska, the works of Wisława Szymborska were deposited in the Arctic World Archive on the island of Spitsbergen. Her poems and other writings were fixed on special digital film called piqlFilm. At present, this is the safest and most durable data storage medium in the world. It is expected to ensure the preservation of the poet’s writings in the “Doomsday Library” for a minimum of 500 years.
  • Znak released a new edition of Wisława Szymborska’s book of poems Wielka liczba (A Large Number). Just as the previous volumes in the new series, this one is enhanced to include scans of the manuscripts and typescripts of the poems. This is the tenth volume in the prestigious collection of Wisława Szymborska’s poetry published by Wydawnictwo Znak.
  • Znak also published a selection of Kornel Filipowicz’s short stories, Formikarium, czyli w moim świecie mrówek. Opowiadania. The publisher observes: “Filipowicz gazes with the eye of a sensitive naturalist; the protagonists of his stories mature and that changes their approach to animals, plants, and the landscape. Selected by Agnieszka Dauksza, these stories, in which nature plays a leading role, show Kornel Filipowicz not only as an arch-master of the short form, but primarily as an author that is relevant to his time, contemporary, and universal. An author for our time.”
  • Announcement of the results of the residencies programme “A Poetess in an Empty Flat: Residencies at Szymborska’s”: Anna Adamowicz, Agnieszka Kłos and Mirka Szychowiak were selected as residents. The programme was co-organized by the Wrocławski Dom Literatury, Wroclaw UNESCO City of Literature, and the Wisława Szymborska Foundation. The residents were selected by a jury related to the Wisława Szymborska Award and Wroclaw’s Silesius Poetry Award: Xavier Farre, Anna Kałuża, Karol Maliszewski, Adam Poprawa, and Alina Świeściak.

July

  • The Hestia Literary Journey Award Committee – Piotr M. Śliwicki (Chair), Katarzyna Kasia, Magdalena Kąkolewska, Joanna Olech, Michał Rusinek, Maciej Wojtyszko, and Paulina Bandura (Secretary) – announced the list of books nominated for the first ever award: Marta Kisiel, Małe Licho i lato z diabłem, Wydawnictwo Wilga/GW Foksal, Krzysztof Łapiński, Dzik Dzikus, Wydawnictwo Agora, Katarzyna Ryrych, Lato na Rodos, Nasza Księgarnia, Marcin Szczygielski, Oczy Michaliny, Instytut Wydawniczy Latarnik im. Zygmunta Kałużyńskiego, Katarzyna Wasilkowska, Świat Mundka, Wydawnictwo Literatura.
  • The winners of the Wisława Szymborska Awards for 2019 and 2020 were announced on 10 July 2021 during a formal gala held at the Potocki Palace in Krakow as part of the Czesław Miłosz Literary Festival. Anna Adamowicz and Genowefa Jakubowska-Fijałkowska received statuettes and prizes of 50,000 zloty each; the other nominees received 4,000 zloty each. The 2019 Wisława Szymborska Award went to Anna Adamowicz for her book of poetry Animalia published by Biuro Literackie. The 2020 Wisława Szymborska Award went to Genowefa Jakubowska-Fijałkowska for her book of poetry Rośliny mięsożerne published by Instytut Mikołowski. Additional funding provided by the City of Krakow; strategic partner: ERGO Hestia; co-sponsor of the Award: BNP Paribas Bank Polska; partners: Krakow Festival Office; Krakow UNESCO City of Literature, Miłosz Festival, City of Literature Foundation, Sobiesław Zasada Automotive, Kaizen Media, Precision Machine Parts Poland, Tenczyńska Okovita, Likus Hotele i Restauracje – Restauracja Pod Różą & Szef Room; media partners: Wirtualna Polska, Gazeta Wyborcza, Książki. Magazyn do czytania, Magazyn Wizje, Wyliczanka, Raport z Literatury.
  • On 11 July, a meeting with Anna Adamowicz, winner of the Wisława Szymborska Award for her book Animalia (Biuro Literackie, 2019) was held at the Potocki Palace in Krakow as part of the Miłosz Festival. It was moderated by Bartosz Sadulski. 

August

  • Mirka Szychowiak stayed at Wisława Szymborska’s flat, as part of the project “A Poetess in an Empty Flat: Residencies at Szymborska’s”. The residencies programme is an initiative of the Wroclaw Dom Literatury in collaboration with the Wisława Szymborska Foundation. Three female poets were invited to Krakow: Mirka Szychowiak, Anna Adamowicz, and Agnieszka Kłos. On 24 August, De Revolutionibus Books&Cafe in Krakow was the venue of the meeting with readers entitled “Mirka Szychowiak Will Have a Word with You”. 

September

  • Call for candidates for the thirteenth iteration of Newsweek Polska’s Social Activist of the Year accolade. This competition is a follow-up on the idea proposed by the Fundacja POMOC SPOŁECZNA SOS in 1997. It was originally initiated by Jacek Kuroń in response to Wisława Szymborska’s request.
  • Agnieszka Kłos, a journalist, art critic and performance artist, resided in Wisława Szymborska’s flat in Krakow throughout September as part of the project “A Poetess in an Empty Flat: Residencies at Szymborska’s” conducted by the Wrocławski Dom Literatury in collaboration with the Wisława Szymborska Foundation. Agnieszka Kłos’s meeting with readers was held on 16 September at a bookseller’s in Krakow.
  • Publication of interviews with the Wisława Szymborska Award winners: Anna Adamowicz in Wysokie Obcasy and Genowefa Jakubowska-Fijałkowska in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
  • Call for applications for the Autumn 2021 Allowance Fund. Eligible applicants included writers and literary translators who had found themselves in a difficult situation due to circumstances beyond their control. An allowance is granted at the request of the interested party, the Polish Writers Association (SPP), the PEN Club, the Polish Book Institute (Instytut Książki), and other associations of people of letters and organizations involved in efforts to the benefit of literary or translation circles.
  • Daniel Warmuz, winner of the fifth Adam Włodek Award, completed the literary project for which he had received a stipend from the Wisława Szymborska Foundation: translation of Zoltán Lesi’s book of poetry Magasugrás from Hungarian. Its Polish title is Skok wzwyż.
  • Emons Verlag in Germany published the guidebook 111 Orte in Krakau, die man gesehen haben muss written by Lena Schraml, with photographs by Marta Wróbel. One of the 111 sights to be seen in Krakow is Wisława Szymborska’s flat at ul. Piastowska. 

October

  • Anna Adamowicz, winner of the Wisława Szymborska Award for her book Animalia, stayed at Wisława Szymborska’s flat in Krakow. She was the third poet selected in the project “A Poetess in an Empty Flat: Residencies at Szymborska’s”, conducted by the Wrocławski Dom Literatury in cooperation with the Wisława Szymborska Foundation. Anna Adamowicz met with her readers at De Revolutionibus Books&Cafe on 30 October. 
  • Premiere of a collection of cotton bags, T-shirts, and sweatshirts decorated with cut-out collages and quotes from poems by Wisława Szymborska, created in collaboration with the Medicine brand. The Wisława Szymborska Foundation uses a portion of this income for its Stipend and Allowance Fund. 
  • Literary Studies Conference “Before and After: Wisława Szymborska” in Zabrze.
  • The Wisława Szymborska Foundation was a partner of the nationwide Night of the Bookshops festival, in which it sponsored the prize in the poetry contest inspired by Szymborska’s limericks and works in her self-devised poetic forms of lepiej and moskalik. The Foundation invited the author of the most interesting text to spend a weekend at the poet’s flat in Krakow. Another event held as part of the festival was a conversation between Joanna Bociąg, Secretary of the Wisława Szymborska Award, and the award winner, Genowefa Jakubowska-Fijałkowska. 

November

  • Call for candidates for the eighth Adam Włodek Award. The Foundation grants this award as a stipend to write a book – a work of literature or literary studies, or a translation. It is an award for young people of letters – writers, poets, translators, literary critics and researchers under 35 years of age who have published at least one book. The award is granted once a year and can be split among several recipients.
  • Andrzej Titkow, a poet, film director, script writer, producer and university teacher, resided at Wisława Szymborska’s flat. The residencies programme is a joint project of the Foundation and ERGO Hestia. The artistic residencies are part of a greater collaborative relationship between ERGO Hestia and the Wisława Szymborska Foundation. The two institutions are already involved in organizing the Hestia Literary Journey competition. The insurance company is also the Strategic Partner of the Wisława Szymborska Award (since 2021). Andrzej Titkow’s meeting with readers in Krakow was held on 27 November. 
  • A pair of glasses, a black ink pen used to make corrections in typescripts, and a thank you card autographed by Wisława Szymborska were transferred to the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm. Once owned by the poet, these unique objects were presented to the museum by representatives of the Polish Institute in Stockholm. The event coincided with the 25th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Wisława Szymborska.
  • Znak published the book Ćwiartka Szymborskiej, czyli lektury nadobowiązkowe, a selection of the poet’s “Non-required reading” columns edited by Jacek Dehnel. 
  • The stairs at Tatrzańska Street in Podgórze regained their colours and the new quotations that were placed on them encouraged readers to choose the works of Krakow’s prose writers and poets – including Wisława Szymborska.
  • The project “New Life for the Coloured Stairs: 3 x Lucky” was conducted by the Krakow Festival Office, operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature programme, the Municipal Road Management Authority and the Municipal Greenery Authority in Krakow as part of the Civic Budget 2020 programme. The project was initiated by a motion tabled by Jacek Młynarz (member of the Council of District XIII: Podgórze).
  • On 10 November 2021, the eve of Poland’s Independence Day, the Valletta Campus Theatre was the venue of the project “Polish Maltese Duets” which marked the fiftieth anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Malta and the Republic of Poland. The President of Malta, representatives of the diplomatic missions of over a dozen countries and other distinguished guests were in the audience. The performance included Wisława Szymborska’s poems in Polish and in Maltese.
  • Presentation of the new members of the Wisława Szymborska Award Committee for the tenth iteration of the competition:

    – Andrea Ceccherelli, Italian scholar specializing in Slavic and literary studies, translator, Full Professor of Polish Language and Literature at the University of Bologna’s Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, where he also serves as President of the Centre for Contemporary Poetry.

    – Janusz Drzewucki, poet, literary critic, publisher, member of the PEN Club, the Polish Writers’ Association (SPP) and the Polish Society of Authors and Composers (ZAiKS).

    – Xavier Farré, poet and translator from Polish and Slovenian into Spanish and Catalan.

    – Alina Świeściak, researcher in the Department of Criticism and Postmodern Literature, part of the Institute of Polish Literature Sciences at the University of Silesia, specializing in 20th-century and contemporary literature.

    – Marta Wyka, literary historian and critic, Full Professor at the Faculty of Polish Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, where she has founded the Chair of Literary Criticism; Editor-in-Chief of Nowa Dekada Krakowska.

    – Yury Zavadsky, poet, publisher, musician, social activist, and literary studies scholar with a PhD in Theory of Literature.
  • Publication of Łukasz Kaźmierczak/Łucja Kuttig’s literary project Orzechnia, funded through the 2019 Adam Włodek Award.

December

  • Lato na Rodos, a book by Katarzyna Ryrych published by Nasza Księgarnia, won the author the first Hestia Literary Journey Award, which carries a prize of 50,000 zloty. The idea underlying the competition is to promote classical literary forms: novels and short stories that stand a chance to be part of the canon of literature for children and adolescents for a long time.
  • Call for submissions for the 2022 Wisława Szymborska Award, to be sent in by 14 January 2022. The call is for books of poetry published in the Polish language in 2021 and those translated into Polish from a foreign language and published in 2020 or 2021. The translated books accepted for the 2020 competition automatically qualify for the current competition.
  • Call for candidates for two residencies programmes: literary residencies for people of letters at Szymborska’s flat – second iteration of the project sponsored by Ergo Hestia and conducted in collaboration with the Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation; poetic residencies – first iteration of the residency programme conducted in collaboration with the Jerzy Pietrkiewicz Educational Foundation.