Wojciech Kass

(b. 1964) – poet, essayist, diarist.

Director of the Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Museum in Pranie (since 1997) and the Michał Kajka Museum in Ogródek (since 2000). Editor of the literary magazine “Topos”.

The literary roots of Wojciech Kass’ early poems drew on Czesław Miłosz’s work. With time, however, his poetry became gradually embedded in the cultural landscape of Masuria, and the scenery of the land of a thousand lakes was etched into the deep layers of the poet’s words. His journal, entitled “Notes” (The Diary), is a documentary of contemporary Masuria, written from a perspective combining that of the local and of the new arrival. The book “Aj, moi dawno umarli” (Ah, My Long Dead, 1996) is an attempt to find traces of Czesław Miłosz and his family in Sopot and the Suwałki Region. Other publications, like “Pęknięte struny pełni. Wokół Konstantego Ildefonsa Gałczyńskiego” (The Broken Strings of the Whole. Around Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, 2004), guides and museum brochures (“Leśniczówka i poeta” – The Forester’s Lodge and the Poet, 2000; “Pranie, leśniczówka Zielonego Konstantego” – Pranie, the Forester’s Lodge of the Green Konstanty, 2008; “Pranie i poeta” – Pranie and the Poet, co-authored with wife Jagienka Kass, 2010), and thirty-five historico-literary entries which he developed for the study “Mazury. Słownik stronniczy, ilustrowany” (Masuria. A Biased, Illustrated Dictionary, 2008) acquaint the reader with various hikes through the Masurian paths of Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński and other writers connected with Masuria.

In the volumes “Przepływ cieni” (The Flow of Shadows, 2004) and “Gwiazda Głóg” (Star Hawthorn, 2005), tenderness becomes a hallmark of his poetry; the pieces reveal reflections about the transience of being and fragility of the world, the experience of the mortality of cultures, a desire to rescue at least bits of reality. Starting from the book “Wiry i sny” (Whirlwinds and Dreams, 2008), the poet’s new, independently developed poetic diction becomes ever more noticeable. It is consolidated in the subsequent poetry books: “41” (2005), “Dwadzieścia jeden wierszy” (Twenty-One Poems, 2012), “Ba!” (Well!, 2014) and “Przestwór. Godziny” (Expanse. The Hours, 2015). In those, poetry becomes a lyrical way to reach inside – of oneself and the world; to reach the light and dark recesses of the universe and one’s soul. The volumes “Otwarte na klucz” (Locked Open, 2023) and “Medytacje na 31 dni” (Meditations for 31 Days, 2024), in turn, feature contemplative pieces. They are an encouragement to stop rushing ahead in life, to find calm; they indicate that silence, contemplation and deep spirituality will enable a detachment from the superficiality and chaos of modern world.

Wojciech Kass has received, among others: the 2000 Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna Award for “Do światła” (Towards the Light) and “Jeleń Thordwaldsena” (Thorvaldsen’s Deer), the Meritorious for Polish Culture decoration (2001), the Bronze and Silver Gloria Artis Medals for Merit to Culture (2007, 2015), the Bronze Cross of Merit (2008), the “Sopocka Muza” Prize in the field of culture and art, awarded by the Mayor of Sopot. For his poetic oeuvre, he was awarded the award of the quarterly “Nowa Okolica Poetów” in 2004. He was also nominated for the “Laurel” Literary Award for Warmia and Masuria for his books The Broken Strings of the Whole. Around Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (2005), Star Hawthorn (2006) and Whirlwinds and Dreams (2009), as well as for the Literary Award of the Capital City of Warsaw in the poetry category for Expanse. The Hours (2016).

Wojciech Kass’ poems have been translated into Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian and Spanish. Singers like Hanna Banaszak, Stanisława Celińska, Krzysztof Napiórkowski and Grzegorz Turnau have also included them in their repertoire.