(b. 1973) – a writer, journalist, essayist, literary critic and translator. Piotr Paziński has emerged as an heir to the Jewish cultural and religious…
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The Book Institute offers translation of excerpt from Ryszard Kapuściński’s work in Arabic. Interested parties are kindly invited to contact us.
(1932-2007) – writer, reporter, feature writer, poet, photographer.
In 1962 Kapuściński started working for the Polska Agencja Prasowa (Polish Press Agency) as its permanent foreign correspondent. He developed his writerly toolkit on travels to many countries affected by wars, coups and revolutions, in America, Asia, and especially Africa, which he witnessed freeing itself from the colonial yoke. These travels were accompanied by a deep understanding of cultural diversity, visible in such works as “Heban” (published in English as The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life) or “Imperium” (published in English under the same title). His writings focus on the lives of ordinary people – often the ones most mistreated by fate – showing their everyday struggle for dignity.
As Kapuściński describes and interprets the world he sees, he uses a narrative technique particular to him (rich stylisation and metaphors, unusual imagery) and creates psychological sketches of his characters. Examples of this reportage-novel genre include “Cesarz” (published in English as The Emperor and translated into many languages) recounting the end of Haile Sellasie’s anachronistic regime in Ethiopia; “Szachinszach” (published in English as Shah of Shahs) about the twilight of Iran’s last shah; and “Imperium” (published in English under the same title) about the downfall of the USSR.
Kapuściński was fascinated not only by foreign worlds and people, but also literature, and he preceded each journey with months of reading about the country he was going to visit. He could listen to the people he encountered, but also read the hidden meanings of significant scenes and events, such as the exodus of Europeans from Angola or a discussion regarding alimony at the Tanganyikan parliament. His tendency to convert private adventures into synthetically framed literary works is evident in books such as “Lapidarium”, an interesting record of transforming journalistic observations into a philosophical reflection about the world and humanity. After his death, a collection of interviews and conversations was published under the title “To nie jest zawód dla cyników” (This is Not a Job for Cynics, 2013), discussing journalistic techniques and ethics.
Kapuściński’s reportage was adapted for the radio (The Emperor, 1980), the theatre (“Jeszcze dzień życia”, published in English as Another Day of Life, 1987; The Emperor, 1978, 1981, 2014, 2019; Shah of Shahs, 1984), the opera (The Emperor, 1995) and the cinema (Another Day of Life, 2018). His poetry is less known than his reportage. In the volumes “Notes” and “Prawa natury” (published in English as I Write Stone. The Selected Poetry of Ryszard Kapuscinski) he asks fundamental questions about the condition of man, the passage of time and the meaning of life. His poetry, like his reportage, is full of incisive insights and allows the reader to look at the world from the perspective of a sensitive observer.
Ryszard Kapuściński received many awards, including the International Journalism Award (1978), the Alfred Jurzykowski Prize (1994), the Prix de l’Astrolabe (1995), the Władysław and Nella Turzański Foundation Award in Toronto (1996), the Feudo di Maida Prize (2000), the Józef Tischner Award (2002), the Władysław Reymont Literary Award (2003), the Elsa Morante Prize (2005), the Nike Literary Award (2005). He also received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1974), the Ecce Homo Order (2002), the Kosciuszko Foundation Medal of Recognition (2005), the Gold Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture (2005). He was awarded honorary doctorates from many universities in Poland and abroad. In recognition of his achievements, the Ryszard Kapuściński Award for the best books of reportage was founded in 2010.
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