The Stockholm Royal Drama Theatre hosts a meeting devoted to the late Wisława Szymborska. The evening entitled Nothing Happens Twice takes place on the 14th of April, 2012 as part of the Dramten& series
The Dramaten& Wisława Szymborska (1923-2012). Nic dwa razy się nie zdarza (Nothing Happens Twice) meeting is moderated by Anders Bodegård, Szymborska’s translator and friend. Many significant personas of the Swedish cultural milieu pay homage to the Polish Nobel Prize laureate during the Saturday event, which is organised by the Polish Institute in Stockholm.
Among the guests of the event are: Katarina Frostenson, a poet and member of the Swedish Academy, Kerstin Brunnberg, head of the Swedish Cultural Council, Jonas Ellerström – a writer and the publisher of Szymborska’s works, Marie Lundquist, a poet, Stefan Ingvarsson – and editor and translator and Maciej Zaremba a writer and a journalist of the Dagens Nyheter daily.
Katarzyna Tubylewicz, the head of the Polish Institute in Stockholm states
The poetry of Szymborska occupies a special place in the heart of Swedish readers. It is largely thanks to work of Anders Bodegård, a translating genius and a great friend of Wisława Szymborska. But I also think that Szymborska’s language and the way she perceived the world was somehow very close to the Swedish soul. An ecological sensitivity, a clarity and simplicity of form, a certain restraint of emotions, and doubts as to the existence of God are all the kinds of traits characteristic of Szymborska’s world that resonate with familiarity for the Swedish reader
The Dramaten theatre was also a significant venue for the poet herself. It was here that Szymborska first presented her works to the Swedish audience, and it becomes the venue of an official farewell.
Szymborska’s translator Anders Bodegård comments on her presence in Sweden
The poet is known to have repeatedly stated that she had luck with people. I believe that in Sweden, we have been lucky to have her and her poems. In the early 1990s, we conviced her to come to an evening at the Dramaten, accompanied by Teresa Walas. She was to appear during the event along the side of a great actress, the expressive and nervous Margareta Krook. The contrast betweem the two figures was rather impressing and the evening was a great success. Already during that time Wisława was known and very much appreciated here. Now, after the Nobel Prize, and with the visits to Sweden that followed, with new editions of her works, and finally - now, following her death, she is even more present in this country and in this language. Together with her Swedish readers, we will speak about the nature of this presense during the evening at Dramaten.
Szymborska’s poetry is read by the Dramaten’s actors, Irene Lindh, Stina Ekblad, Thérèse Brunnander, Johan Holmberg, Erik Ehn and Hannes Meidal. The actors read works from the 1959 collection entitled Dlatego żyjemy / That's Why We Are Alive, Tutaj / Here from 2009, as well as the last poems written by Szymborska, from the Wystarczy / Enough collection which is due to premiere in Poland on the 20th of April, 2012.
Wisława Szymborska’s poems have been translated into Swedish since the 1960s. The first translators were Erik Mesterton and Erika Lindegren. In 1980, Per-Arne Bodin and Roger Fjellström published the first book Aldrig två gånger (Nic dwa razy / Nothing Twice). The first selection of 50 poems translated by Anders Bodegård was published in 1989 under the title Utopia. Nearly all of Wisława Szymborska’s works have been translated into Swedish to to date.
Meeting details:
Dramaten& Wisława Szymborska (1923-2012)
14th of April, 2012, 3 pm - Dramaten, Lilla scenen
Moderated by Anders Bodegård
Source: press release, tygodnik.onet.pl, www.polskainstitutet.se