More than 200 translators of Polish literature head to Kraków in late June. Participants meet up with writers, critics and scholars, with Poles on the programme in 2013 including Wiesław Myśliwski, Adam Zagajewski, Joanna Bator, Kazimiera Szczuka and Michał Rusinek. The Congress also selects its annual Transatlantyk award winner from translators nominated in an open call
The Congress is the largest international event dedicated to translators - the most important ambassadors of Polish culture abroad. It is thanks to their personal engagement and effort that Polish books are published outside of their native land - and it is the translators who follow the news of the literary world, comment on them, select their picks and convince publishers of the richness found in Polish literature.
The World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature is organised by Instytut Książki (The Book Institute) every four years, with its first edition dating back to 2005. The inaugral Congress opened with a lecture by Ryszard Kapuściński; the next edition featured Olga Tokarczuk as its guest opening speaker. This year’s edition, Wiesław Myśliwski provides the keynote lecture. Some 220 translators from across the globe have confirmed their participation in the event.
The programme of the third World Congress features around 40 workshop sessions and events dedicated to the Polish language and literarture, which are to be conducted by prominent specialists in the field including Professors Jerzy Jarzębski, Przemysław Czapliński, Stanisław Rosiek, Piotr Śliwiński and Marek Zaleski, and Dariusz Nowacki, Kazimiera Szczuka and Michał Rusinek.
The 9th Transatlantyk award is also to be presented as part of the Congress, with the official announcement and award ceremony scheduled for the 21st of June. The previous laureates of this award are Henryk Bereska (Germany) in 2005, then Anders Bodegård (Sweden), Albrecht Lempp (Germany), Xenia Staroshelska (Russia), Biserka Rajčić (Serbia), Pietro Marchesani (Italy), Vlasta Dvořáčková (Czech Republic), and Yi Lijun (China) in 2012.
The 3rd World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature is held under the patronage of the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Mr. Bogdan Zdrojewski.
For more information about the Congress in Polish, please see: www.kongrestlumaczy.pl
Editor: Paulina Schlosser, source: press release, 18.06.2013