Adam Zagajewski | |
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 Adam Zagajewski in 2014 | |
| Born | (1945-06-21)21 June 1945 |
| Died | 21 March 2021(2021-03-21) (aged 75) |
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| Nationality | Polish |
| Alma mater | Jagiellonian University |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards |
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Adam Zagajewski (21 June 1945 – 21 March 2021) was a Polishpoet,novelist,translator, andessayist.
He was awarded the 2004Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the 2016Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award, the 2017Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, and the 2018 Golden Wreath of Poetry at theStruga Poetry Evenings.
He was considered a leading poet of the Generation of '68, or Polish New Wave (Polish:Nowa fala), and one of Poland's most prominentcontemporary poets.[1]
Adam Zagajewski was born in 1945 inLwów (now Lviv, Ukraine). His father wasTadeusz Zagajewski and his mother was Ludwika Zagajewska,née Turska. The Zagajewski family wasexpelled from Lwów to central Poland the same year as part of Soviet post-World War II policy. They moved to the city ofGliwice where he graduated from Andrzej Strug V High School (V Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Andrzeja Struga). Subsequently, he studiedpsychology andphilosophy at theJagiellonian University inKraków. He later taught philosophy at theAGH University of Science and Technology. In 1967, he made his poetic debut withMusic, a poem published inŻycie Literackie magazine. He published his works as well as reviews in such magazines asOdra (1969–1976) andTwórczość (1969, 1971–1973).[2] During this time, he became involved in theNew 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".[3]
After signing theLetter of 59 his works were banned bycommunist authorities in Poland. In 1978, he was one of the founders and first lecturers of the Scientific Training Association. In 1982, he emigrated toParis, but in 2002 he returned to Poland together with his wife Maja Wodecka, and resided inKraków. He was a member of thePolish Writers' Association.[4]
His literary works have received international recognition and have been translated into many languages.[2] Joachim T. Baer, a reviewer fromWorld 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."[5]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."[6] American poetRobert 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 inThe New Yorker shortly after theSeptember 11 attacks.[7][8]
Zagajewski used to teach poetry workshops as a visiting lecturer at the School of Literature and Arts at theJagiellonian University in Kraków as well as acreative writing course at theUniversity of Houston in the United States. He was a faculty member at theUniversity of Chicago and a member of itsCommittee on Social Thought. He taught two classes, one of which was on fellow Polish poetCzesław Miłosz. Commenting on the occasion of his death,Olga Tokarczuk remarked that he was an appreciated teacher of poetry.[8]
Zagajewski died on 21 March 2021 at the age of 75 inKrakow.[9][10]
He was awarded the BronzeCross of Merit, and twice received the Officer's Cross of theOrder of Polonia Restituta. In 1992, he received aGuggenheim Fellowship. He won the 2004Neustadt International Prize for Literature, considered a forerunner to the Nobel Prize in Literature, and is the second Polish writer to be awarded, afterCzeslaw Milosz.[11][12]In 2015 he received theHeinrich Mann Prize. In May 2016 he was awarded the Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize of theUniversity of Tübingen.[13] In the same year he received the Order ofLegion d'Honneur and theJanus Pannonius Grand Prize for Poetry [hu] (award of the Hungarian PEN Club) as well. In 2017 he was awarded The Princess of Asturias Award, "one of the most important awards in the Spanish-speaking world."[14] In 2018 his collection of essays,Poezja dla początkujących (Poetry for Beginners), was nominated for theNike Award, Poland's top literary honor.[15] In 2019, Zagajewski was awardedPour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts.[16] In his lifetime, he was frequently mentioned as a potentialNobel Prize laureate.[8]
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