Sosnowski's work deliberately has little to do with ready-made, re-usable forms. It is a one-time-only, arbitrary art. The poet analyzes the word not to penetrate to the essence of its meaning, but rather to show that in its present context it means almost nothing. It is a sound that occupies a certain place in the space of human life. As a result, the 'feeling and speaking' protagonist of Sosnowski's verse experiences his own randomness while learning that spiritual sterility can be overcome only when it is recognized as a crucial and – paradoxically – an insoluble problem of the human interior. Sosnowski keeps his poems outside the repertoire of accepted wisdom and familiar significances. He also undermines the coherence of the concepts of fiction, dream, waking, and nothingness. Dream images hardly differ from 'ordinary' ones. An important characteristic of this poetry is the awareness that all human consciousness is accessible only indirectly, in a partially fictionalized form. The most significant factor is language, which hinders comprehension and dooms us to nightmares or to insomnia. The ultimate goal of poetry should, therefore, be the 'breaking' of language.
He has won the 1992 Iłłakowiczówna Prize for the best poetry debut and the Kościelski and Odra Prizes (both in 1997), and in 2017 he received the Wrocław Silesius Poetry Award for his oeuvre.
Published in 2017, his 20th jubilee book, Trawers (editor’s translation: Traverse) is a synthesis of his oeuvre – half of the content is made up of already published poems. Everybody can follow the eponymous path, that Sosnowski transversed over nearly 30 years of his artistic activity since the selected poems are accessible in their eclecticism. Aldona Kopkiewicz wrote:
Having depicted catastrophes and Armageddons in his latest books, Sosnowski tries to go back to life – he is looking for his “new aura” and “alternative to joy” (as in Kochanowski’s Lament II). Crossing poetic landscapes, peeking at Rimbaud, who escaped poetic ecstasies to Africa, where he grew ultimately grew silent, in the eponymous Trawers Sosnowski reaches Warsaw, his homeland, where he brings us to a poetic feast. As usual, his celebrations are passionate outbursts, surreal techno parties and bliss with menace in the background (“Polityka” 25.04.2017).
Selected Bibliography:
- Życie na Korei, Warsaw: Przedswit, 1992,
- Sezon na Helu, Lublin: Stowarzyszenie Literackie "Kresy," 1994,
- Oceany, Wroclaw: Pomona, 1996,
- Stancje, Lublin: Kresy, 1997,
- Cover. Legnica: Centrum Sztuki - Teatr Dramatyczny, 1997,
- Zoom. Cracow: Zielona Sowa, 2000,
- Wiersze, Legnica: Biuro Literackie, 2001,
- Taxi, Biuro Literackie, Legnica 2003,
- Gdzie koniec tęczy nie dotyka ziemi, Biuro Literackie 2006,
- Dożynki, Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2006 (zebrane teksty z poprzednich tomów),
- Po Tęczy, Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2007,
- Pozytywki i marienbadki. 1987-2007, Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2009,
- poems, Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2010,
- Sylwetki i cienie, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2012,
- Stare śpiewki, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2013,
- Dom ran, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2015,
- Zmienia to postać legendarnych rzeczy, WBPiCAK, Poznań 2015,
- Trawers, Biuro Literackie, Stronie Śląskie 2017.
In English:
- Lodgings: Selected Poems 1987-2010, translated by Benjamin Paloff, Open Letter, 2011
Source: www.polska2000.pl; copyright: Stowarzyszenie Willa Decjusza, update: AP, June 2019.