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(1961) – prose writer, poet, essayist, journalist, literary critic. Piotr Szewc graduated in Polish philology from the Catholic University of Lublin in 1986. He…
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Essay
Fiction
Poetry
Julian Kornhauser
(b. 1946) – a poet, prose writer, literary critic, scholar and translator of Serbo-Croatian literature, and a professor at the Jagiellonian University.
He was part of the New Wave in poetry of the 1970s, and participated in the anti-communist movement of the time. In ‘Zjadacze kartofli’ (The Potato Eaters) he deftly joined everyday observations and deeper reflection on reality. In the poetry volume ‘Kamyk i cień’ (Pebble and Shadow), in turn, he dwelled upon history, memory and identity. His work shows a generational and civic consciousness and the need to stand up for the basic values. One of its traits is a formal record of scenes from life and uncanny visions saturated with symbolic language. As a poet, Kornhauser is a unique phenomenon; apart from a New-Wave sensitivity to lies concealed in the formulaic language of public life, he has an original, often surrealist imagination and a whole range of themes and poetic devices. This is a poet who pursues his own, highly personal truth and individual experience of the world. His poetry uses innovative formal solutions, exploring the boundaries of language and its capacity for expression, as in the volume Origami. Moreover, Julian Kornhauser treats poetry as a tool to analyse and interpret the world, which makes his work deeply reflective.
Before his prose debut published with Adam Zagajewski, he released an acclaimed book that laid out his programme, ‘Świat nie przedstawiony’ (The Unrepresented World), in which he wrote in realist prose, to speak the truth in a falsified communist reality. As a prose writer he remained a creator of subjective experiences, drawing from his spiritual biography and the collective biography of his generation, showing how his personality took shape among a bevy of influences. In ‘Dom, sen i gry dziecięce…’ (Home, Dream, and Child’s Play…), in turn, Kornhauser gives everyday events and places an almost magical aspect, creating a poetic narrative of sorts.
He has published his essays, reviews, literary criticism and translations in such periodicals as Gazeta Wyborcza, Tygodnik Powszechny, Dziennik Polska–Europa–Świat, Rzeczpospolita, Twórczość, Odra, Literatura na Świecie and Teksty Drugie.
Julian Kornahauser has received many awards, including the Kościelski Foundation Award (1975), Andrzej Bursa Poetry Award (1981), Polish Translators’ Association Award (1997), City of Krakow Award (1998), Silesius Wrocław Poetry Award for lifetime achievement (2016), International Balaton Poetry Award (2016) and the title of Ambassador of the Polish Language in Writing (2017). He has been honoured with the Golden Service Cross (1999) and a honoris causa PhD from Opole University (2022). His poetry has been published in many anthologies of twentieth-century poems in Poland and abroad.
Bibliography
poetry:
- Nastanie święto i dla leniuchów, Warsaw: Iskry, 1972.
- W fabrykach udajemy smutnych rewolucjonistów, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1973.
- Zabójstwo, Cracow: wydanie nakładem własnym poza cenzurą, 1973.
- Stan wyjątkowy, Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1978.
- Zjadacze kartofli, Cracow, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1978.
- Zasadnicze trudności, Warsaw: Czytelnik, 1979.
- Każdego następnego dnia, Cracow: ABC, 1981.
- Tyle rzeczy niezwykłych. Wiersze dla Agatki, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1981.
- Hurrraaa!, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1982.
- Inny porządek: 1981–1984, Cracow: Oficyna Literacka, 1985.
- Za nas, z nami, Warsaw: Czytelnik, 1985.
- Wiersze z lat osiemdziesiątych, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1991.
- Kamyk i cień, Poznań: Wydawnictwo a5, 1996.
- Było, minęło, Warsaw: Nowy świat, 2001.
- Księżyc jak mandarynka, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2003.
- Origami, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2006.
- Widok na jezioro. Wiersze z lat 1972–2007, Cracow: Śródmiejski Ośrodek Kultury; Fall, 2009.
- Tylko błędy są żywe, Poznań: Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna i Centrum Animacji Kultury w Poznaniu, 2015.
- Wiersze zebrane, Poznań: Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna i Centrum Animacji Kultury w Poznaniu, 2016.
- „braków nie ma żadnych”. Pokrzywy i olchy. Wiersze, Cracow: Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych Universitas, 2021.
prose:
- Kilka chwil, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1975.
- Stręczyciel idei, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1980.
- Dom, sen i gry dziecięce. Opowieść sentymentalna, Cracow: Znak, 1995.
- Proza zebrana, Poznań: Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna i Centrum Animacji Kultury w Poznaniu, 2017.
sketches:
- Od mitu do konkretu. Szkice o modernizmie i awangardzie w poezji chorwackiej, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1978.
- Strategie liryczne serbskiej awangardy, Cracow: Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych Universitas, 1991.
- Wątki polskie we współczesnej literaturze serbskiej i chorwackiej. Rekonesans, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 1993.
- Literatury zachodnio- i południowosłowiańskie XX wieku w ujęciu porównawczym, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 1994.
- Świadomość regionalna i mit odrębności. O stereotypach w literaturze serbskiej i chorwackiej, Cracow: Scriptum, 2001.
essays:
- Międzyepoka. Szkice o poezji i krytyce, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Baran i Suszczyński, 1995.
- Postscriptum: notatnik krytyczny, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1999.
- Uśmiech sfinksa: o poezji Zbigniewa Herberta, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2001.
- Poezja i codzienność, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2003.
- Preteksty, posłowia. Małe kanony literatury światowej, Cracow: Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych Universitas, 2020.
translation works:
from Croatian:
- Slavko Mihalić, Sen w świetle, Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1980.
- Josip Osti, Wszystkie flagi są czarne, Sejny: Pogranicze, 1995.
from Serbian:
- Marko Ristić, Wiersze, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1977.
- Dušan Matić, Tajny płomień, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1980.
- Tragarze zdań. Antologia młodej poezji serbskiej, Cracow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1983.
- Stevan Tontić, Sarajewski rękopis, Warsaw: Latona, 1995.
- Lament nad Sarajewem. Antologia poezji bośniackiej, Szczecin: 13 Muz; Sejny: Pogranicze, 1996.
- Miloš Crnjanski, Lament nad Beogradom, Beograd: Tanesi, 2010.
Translations
Croatian:
- U jednoj sekundi: izbor pjesama (1972–2000) [selected poetry], trans. Marina Trumić, Tešanj: Centar za kulturu i obrazovanje, 2002.
English:
- Been and Gone [selected poems from Polish and English], trans. Piotr Florczyk, Michigan: Marick Press, 2009.
- I’m half of your heart: selected poems, 1967–2017 [selected poetry], trans. Piotr Florczyk, Sandpoint, Idaho: Lost Horse Press, 2018.
German:
- in anthology: Landkarte schwer gebügelt: neue polnische Poesie von 1968 bis heute, München: Heyne Verlag, 1985.
- Zuhause, Traum und Kinderspiele [Dom, sen i gry dziecięce…], trans. Kirsti Dubeck, Potsdamer: Deutsches Kulturforum Östliches Europa, 2003.
- Dwa światy = Zwei Welten, trans. Henryk Bereska [et al.]., Rzeszów: Podkarpacki Instytut Książki i Marketingu, 2008. [bilingual edition]
Hungarian:
- Otthon, álmok, gyermekkori játékok: szentimentális történet [Dom, sny i gry dziecięce…], trans. Gizella Csisztay, Budapest: Gondolat, 2008.
- Julian Kornhauser [wybór wierszy], trans. Gábor Zsille, Balatonfüred: Balatonfüredi Költőverseny Quasimodo Közalapítvány, 2016.
Romanian:
- Cameră mai mare decât pâinea [selected poetry], trans. Constantin Geambaşu, Bucureşti: Tracus Arte, 2018.
Serbian:
- Načelne teškoće [selected poetry], trans. Petar Vujičić, Vrsac: Knjizevna Opstina, 1989.
- Kuća, san i dečje igre [Dom, sen i gry dziecięce…], trans. B. Rajčić. Ljubljana: Vodnikova Domačija, Kulturni Vikend Djece iz BiH, 1996.
- Signalizam srpska neoavangarda [Sygnalizm: propozycja serbskiej poezji eksperymentalnej], trans. Biserka Rajčíc, Niš: Prosveta, 1998.
- Bilo pa prošlo [wybór wierszy], trans. Lubica Rosić, Kralevo: Narodna biblioteka „Stefan Prvovenčani”, 2016.
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