He was considered a leading poet of the Generation of '68, or Polish New Wave (Polish: Nowa fala), and one of Poland's most prominent contemporary poets.[1]
Biographyedit
Adam Zagajewski was born in 1945 in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine). His father was Tadeusz Zagajewski and his mother was Ludwika Zagajewska, née Turska. The Zagajewski family was expelled from Lwów to central Poland the same year as part of Soviet post-World War II policy. They moved to the city of Gliwice where he graduated from Andrzej Strug V High School (V Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Andrzeja Struga). Subsequently, he studied psychology and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He later taught philosophy at the AGH University of Science and Technology. In 1967, he made his poetic debut with Music, a poem published in Życie Literackie magazine. He published his works as well as reviews in such magazines as Odra (1969–1976) and Twórczość (1969, 1971–1973).[2] During this time, he became involved in the New Wave (Nowa fala) literary movement also known as the Generation of '68'. The aim of the group was "standing up against the falsifications of reality and the appropriation of language by communist ideology and propaganda".[3] After signing the Letter of 59 his works were banned by communist authorities in Poland. In 1978, he was one of the founders and first lecturers of the Scientific Training Association. In 1982, he emigrated to Paris, but in 2002 he returned to Poland together with his wife Maja Wodecka, and resided in Kraków. He was a member of the Polish Writers' Association.[4]
His literary works have received international recognition and have been translated into many languages.[2] Joachim T. Baer, a reviewer from World Literature Today pointed out that the recurring themes in Zagajewski's poetry include "the night, dreams, history and time, infinity and eternity, silence and death."[5]Colm Tóibín notes that in his best poems "he has succeeded in making the space of the imagination connect with experience; things seen and heard and remembered in all their limits and sorrow and relished joy have the same power for him as things conjured."[6] American poet Robert Pinsky observes that Zagajewski's poems are "about the presence of the past in ordinary life: history not as a chronicle of the dead … but as an immense, sometimes subtle force inhering in what people see and feel every day – and in the ways we see and feel". His poem "Try To Praise The Mutilated World" became famous when it was printed in The New Yorker shortly after the September 11 attacks.[7][8]
Carpenter, Bogdana (2005). "A Tribute to Adam Zagajewski". World Literature Today. 79 (2): 14–15. ISSN 0196-3570. JSTOR 40158662.
Cavanagh, Clare (2005). "Lyric and Public: The Case of Adam Zagajewski". World Literature Today. 79 (2): 16–19. doi:10.2307/40158663. ISSN 0196-3570. JSTOR 40158663.
Kay, Magdalena (2005). "Place and Imagination in the Poetry of Adam Zagajewski". World Literature Today. 79 (2): 20–22. doi:10.2307/40158664. ISSN 0196-3570. JSTOR 40158664.
Kay, Magdalena (2012). Knowing One's Place in Contemporary Irish and Polish Poetry: Zagajewski, Mahon, Heaney, Hartwig. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-1-62356-281-6.
Krivak, Andrew (9 May 2003). "The Language of Redemption: The Catholic Poets Adam Zagajewski, Marie Ponsot & Lawrence Joseph". Commonweal. 130 (9): 12–14. ISSN 0010-3330..
Shallcross, Bozena (2002). Through the Poet's Eye: The Travels of Zagajewski, Herbert, and Brodsky. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0-8101-1837-9.
^"Adam Zagajewski". Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
^Koziński, Remigiusz (22 March 2021). "Odszedł esteta, eseista, poeta. Kilka słów o Adamie Zagajewskim". Lubimy Czytać (in Polish). Retrieved 24 March 2021.
^Colm Tóibín (30 April 2004). "Lvov Story". Retrieved 26 March 2018.
^Adam Zagajewski (17 September 2001). "Try to Praise the Mutilated World". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
^ abcScislowska, Monika (22 March 2021). "Acclaimed Polish poet Adam Zagajewski dies at age 75". Associated Press. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^Viatteau, Michel (21 March 2021). "Adam Zagajewski: Poland's unassuming 'poet of 9/11'". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
^"Acclaimed Polish poet Adam Zagajewski dies at age 75 - ABC News". ABC News.
^"2004 Neustadt Prize Laureate – Adam Zagajewski". World Literature Today. 2005. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
^"Polish poet awarded 2004 Neustadt prize". The Oklahoma Daily. 27 October 2003. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
^"Leopold Lucas-Preis 2016 geht an Adam Zagajewski" (in German). University of Tübingen. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
^"Adam Zagajewski with the Princess of Asturias literary award : Kraków Miasto Literatury UNESCO". krakowcityofliterature.com. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
^"Wyborcza.pl". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
^"Orden Pour le mérite wählt neue Mitglieder". bundesregierung.de (in German). Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung. 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
External linksedit
Wikiquote has quotations related to Adam Zagajewski.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adam Zagajewski.
Profile and poems by Adam Zagajewski at PoetryFoundation.org