Meetings with Polish poetry continue this month as the UW–Madison Polish Program is hosting Jerzy Jarniewicz (University of Łódź), a Polish poet, translator, and literary critic whose first poetic volume in English was published in 2023. The event will also feature Jarniewicz’s translator into English, scholar, essayist, and an award-winning poet Piotr Florczyk (University of Washington). Please join us for a poetry, translation, and Polish and world literature discussion. The event is free and open to the public.
The event “On Being Landless: A Poetic Evening” will take place on Wednesday, April 10, in Van Hise Hall on the UW–Madison campus and will be hosted by Łukasz Wodzyński, Assistant Professor of Polish. The meeting follows the publication of Jerzy Jarniewicz’s English-language debut, Landless Boys (2023), translated by Piotr Florczyk, professor of Global Literary Studies at the University of Washington. The event is co-sponsored by the UW–Madison Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic+, the Emily and Michael Lapinski Fund, and the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia.
Jerzy Jarniewicz is a Polish poet, translator, literary critic, and professor at the Department of British Literature and Culture at the University of Łódz. He has published twelve volumes of poetry and thirteen critical books on contemporary Irish, British, and American literature. He is editor of the literary monthly Literatura na Świecie (Warsaw,) and has translated the work of many novelists and poets, including James Joyce, John Banville, Seamus Heaney, Raymond Carver, Philip Roth, Edmund White, Ursula Le Guin, and Derek Walcott. He received several of Poland’s most prestigious literary awards, including the Nike Award 2022 for his poetic volume Mondo Cane.
Piotr Florczyk is an award-winning poet, scholar, essayist, translator, and professor of Global Literary Studies at the University of Washington. In addition to his books, he has published poems, translations, essays, and reviews in major American journals. His latest publishing project, Textshop Editions, co-founded with Kevin A. Wisniewski, is dedicated to publishing short experimental works. Contributing Editor at Copper Nickel and Poetry International, he also serves on the Editorial Board of the “Literary Multingualism” book series at Brill.
Event details: On Being Landless: A Poetic Evening featuring Jerzy Jarniewicz (Poet) and Piotr Florczyk (Translator)
Date and time: April 10 (Wednesday) at 5:15 p.m.
Location: Van Hise Hall, Room 1418, 1220 Linden Dr, Madison, WI 53706
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UW–Madison Polish Studies Program
Educating the Wisconsin public about the Polish language, literature, and culture since 1936.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Polish Studies Program is the oldest academic program in the United States focused on the study and teaching of the Polish language, literature, and culture. UW–Madison Polish studies offer a comprehensive package of Polish language, literature, and culture courses, a generous scholarship program designed exclusively for its students, and various extracurricular activities each academic year.
The program, dating back to 1935, offers beginning, intermediate, and advanced Polish language courses, in addition to intensive Polish courses for heritage speakers and (under)graduate students. In 2011, the program received the prestigious 2022 Award Distinction from the University of Warsaw for its achievements in promoting the Polish language and knowledge about Polish culture and history. The UW–Madison Polish program also offers a broad range of Polish culture courses on Polish film, contemporary Polish culture, Polish migration to the Americas, a survey of Polish culture from the Middle Ages to modern times, Polish comedy culture, and post-communism.
Each year, the UW Polish program awards scholarships for tuition through the Lapinski fund to undergraduate and graduate students studying the Polish language, literature, and culture. The Polish Student Association (PSA) provides a space for all students interested in events, activities, and learning about Poland and Polish culture. In collaboration with the Polish program faculty, the PSA also co-organizes the Madison Polish Film Festival, an annual celebration of Polish cinematography in Madison, Wisconsin, now in its fourth decade of existence.