"I'd rather be a reader of other people's poems than my own..."
Exhibition in the reading room of the Collegium Polonicum library
The Karl Dedecius Archive at Collegium Polonicum in Słubice houses a collection of over 400 documents testifying to the poet's friendship with her German translator. The collection includes typescripts of poems and their translations, souvenirs of the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and press materials on the reception of Wisława Szymborska's work in Germany. Among the most interesting is the correspondence, dating back to the 1960s and continuing uninterruptedly until the beginning of the 21st century. Szymborska kept it mainly on hand-made ‘stickers’.
On seven large-format charts we present in Polish and German a selection of the poet's and translator's correspondence. On its basis not only the development of their friendship can be traced, but also the reception of Szymborska's work in Germany. Alongside a series of amusing stickers, commemorative documents from the ceremony of the poet's awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature can be seen.
The exhibition was created by the Karl Dedecius Archive in cooperation with Collegium Polonicum, the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Permission for the use of the correspondence was granted by the Karl Dedecius Foundation and the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, which took patronage of the project.
The exhibition is mobile. Anyone interested in borrowing it is welcome to contact us.
Information can be obtained from
For information contact:
Agnieszka Brockmann
tel: 61 829 6752
e-mail: brockmann@europa-uni.de
