Adam Zagajewski

Adam Zagajewski studied at Jagiellonian University. The recorded working language is Polish, French and English. The field of work recorded is fiction, Polish poetry and translation from French. Employment is recorded with University of Chicago, University of Houston and Jagiellonian University. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship, Neustadt International Prize for Literature, Vilenica Prize and Heinrich Mann Prize.

• Name — Adam Zagajewski • Born — 21 June 1945 • Birthplace — Lwów, Poland • Died — 21 March 2021 • Place of death — Kraków, Poland • Occupation — * Poet • essayist • translator • Education — Jagiellonian University • Notable Works — * Unseen Hand • Another Beauty • Słuch absolutny • Asymetria • Awards — * Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath (2018) • Princess of Asturias Award (2017) • Griffin Lifetime Recognition Award (2016) • Heinrich Mann Prize (2015) • Neustadt International Prize for Literature (2004) • Vilenica Prize (1996) • Kościelski Award (1975)

Adam Zagajewski was born in 1945 in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine). His father was Tadeusz Zagajewski and his mother was Ludwika Zagajewska, née Turska. The Zagajewski family was expelled from Lwów to central Poland the same year as part of Soviet post-World War II policy. They moved to the city of Gliwice where he graduated from Andrzej Strug V High School (V Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Andrzeja Struga). Subsequently, he studied psychology and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He later taught philosophy at the AGH University of Science and Technology. In 1967, he made his poetic debut with Music, a poem published in Życie Literackie magazine. He published his works as well as reviews in such magazines as Odra (1969–1976) and Twórczość (1969, 1971–1973). During this time, he became involved in the New Wave (Nowa fala) literary movement also known as the Generation of '68'. The aim of the group was "standing up against the falsifications of reality and the appropriation of language by communist ideology and propaganda". After signing the Letter of 59 his works were banned by communist authorities in Poland. In 1978, he was one of the founders and first lecturers of the Scientific Training Association. In 1982, he emigrated to Paris, but in 2002 he returned to Poland together with his wife Maja Wodecka, and resided in Kraków. He was a member of the Polish Writers' Association. His literary works have received international recognition and have been translated into many languages. Joachim T. Baer, a reviewer from World Literature Today pointed out that the recurring themes in Zagajewski's poetry include "the night, dreams, history and time, infinity and eternity, silence and death." Colm Tóibín notes that in his best poems "he has succeeded in making the space of the imagination connect with experience; things seen and heard and remembered in all their limits and sorrow and relished joy have the same power for him as things conjured." American poet Robert Pinsky observes that Zagajewski's poems are "about the presence of the past in ordinary life: history not as a chronicle of the dead … but as an immense, sometimes subtle force inhering in what people see and feel every day – and in the ways we see and feel". His poem "Try To Praise The Mutilated World" became famous when it was printed in The New Yorker shortly after the September 11 attacks. Zagajewski used to teach poetry workshops as a visiting lecturer at the School of Literature and Arts at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków as well as a creative writing course at the University of Houston in the United States. He was a faculty member at the University of Chicago and a member of its Committee on Social Thought. He taught two classes, one of which was on fellow Polish poet Czesław Miłosz. Commenting on the occasion of his death, Olga Tokarczuk remarked that he was an appreciated teacher of poetry. Zagajewski died on 21 March 2021 at the age of 75 in Krakow.

• Komunikat. Kraków, 1972. • Sklepy mięsne. Kraków, 1975. • List. Oda do wielkości. Paris, 1983. • Jechać do Lwowa. London, 1985. • Plótno. Paris, 1990. • Ziemia ognista. Poznan, 1994. • Trzej aniołowie / Three Angels. Kraków, 1998 (bilingual edition of selected poems). • Pragnienie. Kraków, 1999. • Powrót. Kraków, 2003. • Anteny. Kraków, 2005. • Unseen Hand (Niewidzialna reka). Kraków, 2009. • Wiersze wybrane. Kraków, 2010. • Asymetria. Kraków, 2014. • Lotnisko w Amsterdamie / Airport in Amsterdam. Kraków, 2016 (bilingual edition of selected poems). • Prawdziwe życie. Kraków, 2019.

• Ciepło, zimno. Warszawa, 1975. • Słuch absolutny. Kraków, 1979. • Cienka kreska. Kraków, 1983.

• Świat nieprzedstawiony. Kraków, 1974. • Drugi oddech. Kraków, 1978. • Solidarność i samotność. "Zeszyty literackie", 1986. • Dwa miasta. Paryż-Kraków, 1991. • Another Beauty (W cudzym pięknie). Poznań, 1998. • Obrona żarliwosci. Kraków, 2002. • Poeta rozmawia z filozofem. Warszawa, 2007. • Lekka przesada. Kraków, 2011. • Poezja dla początkujących. Warszawa, 2017. • Substancja nieuporządkowana. Kraków, 2019.

• Tremor Translator Renata Gorczynski, Collins Harvill, 1987 • Canvas Translators Renata Gorczynski, Benjamin Ivry, C. K. Williams, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994, * * • Selected Poems, Translator Clare Cavanagh, Faber & Faber, 2004, * • Unseen Hand: Poems (2011) • Asymmetry: Poems. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 20 November 2018.. • True Life, Translator Clare Cavanagh, 2023, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

• Solidarity, Solitude, Ecco Press, 1990, * * * • Slight Exaggeration: An Essay. Trans. Clare Cavanagh. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 4 April 2017..

• Polish Writers on Writing (Trinity University Press, 2007)

* * * * •. *

Adam Zagajewski worked in fiction, Polish poetry, translation from French, literature and Polish prose literature. He was employed by University of Chicago, University of Houston, Jagiellonian University and AGH University of Science and Technology. He belonged to Academy of Arts, Berlin, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Polish Academy of Learning, Towarzystwo Kursów Naukowych and Stowarzyszenie Pisarzy Polskich.

Adam Zagajewski is recorded as having received Guggenheim Fellowship, Neustadt International Prize for Literature and Vilenica Prize.