He graduated in German Studies from Warsaw University. His collections Z Dnia na Dzień (From Day to Day) and Cały Czas. Wiersze 1986-1991 (All the Time. Poems 1986-1991) were published in 1992, and Podczas Ciebie (During You) in 1999. In 2012 he published the volume Krajobraz ze Wszystkimi (A Landscape with Everyone), which was nominated to the K.I. Gałczyński Orfeus Poetry Award.
Jakub Ekier's poetry is the art of a great range of expression. It is a quiet voice, but one which can blast rocks apart. (Marian Kisiel)
His works have been inspired by Celan and Ryszard Krynicki's poetry. They are characterized by an unusual, almost epigrammatic linguistic brevity, ambiguity and poetic compactness.
He has translated, among others, Celan, Kunze, Kafka, Brecht and Frisch. When asked, whether he considers being a translator an independent artistic activity, and whether thinks of his translations as works of art, he answered:
An XVIII-century English theorist of translation, Alexander Fraser Tytler postulated for translation to be characterised by a 'freedom of original composition'. I also believe that the translator has the duty of showing the artism of the original - I expect my works to show on the same level whenever possible. But not more of it. It is a paradox: the translator has to take advantage of his freedom, to be a servant (www.goethe.de).
For his translating work he was awarded, among other things, with the prize of the Austrian Ministry of Culture, Education and Sport (2008), the "Literatura na Świecie" prize (2010) and Karl Dedecius Prize (2013).
Source: www.polska2000.pl; copyright: Stowarzyszenie Willa Decjusza, updated by AP, November 2019.
Bibliography:
Poetry
- Z Dnia na Dzień (From Day to Day; 1992);
- Cały Czas. Wiersze 1986-91 (All the Time. Poems 1986-1991; 1992);
- Podczas Ciebie (During You; 1999);
- Krajobraz ze Wszystkimi (A Landscape with Everyone; 2012).