Julia Fiedorczuk reading Czesław Miłosz, photo: Anna Palonka
On the 7th of November, over 100 people of the literary, publishing and cultural milieux gathered at Tokyo's Super Deluxe club for the launch of "Poems on the Underground" campaign in Japan. The campaign kicked off with a special promotion of the Japanese release of an audiobook with Czesław Miłosz's poetry.
The evening at Super Deluxe was opened by Poland's Ambassador in Japan, Jadwiga Rodowicz-Czechowska who introduced the gathered audience to the flagship endevour of the world-wide Czesław Miłosz audiobook release. The endeavour forms part of the Cultural Programme of the Polish Presidency of the EU, as well as a special programme commemorating the hundredth year since the Polish poet's birth. The publications differ, depending on their country of publication. The graphic design and overall concept remains the same: The audio books, produced by European Polish Institutes, and the Embassies of Poland in Beijing and Tokyo are an opportunity for international readers to acquaint themselves with the works of the Polish laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Following the introductory speech, renowned Polish poets, Julia Fiedorczuk and Tomasz Różycki recited select poems by Miłosz in their original Polish version: "Nadzieja" / "Hope", "Tak mało" / "So Little", "Moja wierna mowo" / "My Faithful Mother Tongue" and "Piosenka o końcu świata" / "Song on the End of the World". The audience then listened to Japanese recordings of Miłosz's works, as read by the actor Tohru Watanabe and to Julia Fiedorczuk, who sketched out an overview of Miłosz's figure and elucidated the specificity of his poetry.
Fiedorczuk and Różycki also shared their own poetry with the Japanese audience. Those gathered at the club were able to follow a Japanese translations of the poets' works, published in the "Poems on the Underground" pamphlets, and eagerly partcipated in a Q&A session following the readings.
An official reception was then opened by Professor Mitsuyoshi Numano of Tokyo University, who co-authored the Japanese selection of Czesław Miłosz's poems.
The evening's guests shared in a festive ambience of such direct contact with the spoken poetic word.
See more on Czesław Miłosz's audiobook in Japanese and audio streaming of Tohru Watanabe's recordings
Date: Campaign launched on the 7th of November, 2011
Venue: Super Deluxe club in Tokyo, Tokyo's underground system
Organised by: Warsaw Destination Alliance Foundation.
Partners: Polish Embassy in Tokyo
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Czesław Miłosz is a Flagship Project of the Cultural Programme of the Polish Presidency. For more information on the project, see: Czesław Miłosz
For more information on the 2011 Milosz Year, see: www.365milosz.eu
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute