Julia Hartwig
After the launch of the international tour in London and the following Paris edition, "Poems on the Underground" headed to Madrid. Meetings with poets, Spoke'n'Word festival, slam poetry workshops and a haiku competition take place in 8 different countries across the globe, promoting Polish poetry and inciting international exchange among young poets
The main goal of the "Wiersze w Metrze" / "Poems on the Underground" campaign is to popularise contemporary poetry through showcasing it on the underground and in urban spaces. The first three editions, which took part in Warsaw in 2008-2010, focused on modern European poetry. In 2011, within the framework of the Polish EU Presidency, contemporary Polish poets and their poetry will not only be present in Warsaw, but will also visit 8 cities outside Poland: London, Paris, Madrid, Kiev, Beijing, Tokyo, Brussels and Luxembourg.
A meeting with Julia Hartwig and Edward Pasewicz launched the Spanish campaign at the Polish Embassy in Madrid. The meeting took place on the 5th of September, 2011 at 7 pm.
The Madrid campaign consisted of:
- A meeting with the poets Julia Hartwig and Edward Pasewicz
- An exhibition of Polish poems on the underground
- Exhibitions and installations with poems in Madrid's public spaces
- Spoke'n'Word Festival of performing poets and slammers
- a haiku competition on the subject of Poland or Warsaw
- the official site of the project: www.wierszewmetrze.eu
More information on the Spoke'n'Word festival and slam workshops, see: Young Polish Poets in Madrid.
Julia Hartwig was born in 1921 in Lublin. A poet, essayist, translator and author of children's books, she was born in Lublin in 1921. She has been awarded numerous fellowships in France and the United States and has won the Jurzykowski Prize and the Thornton Wilder Prize from the Translation Center at Columbia University, as well as the Austrian Georg Trakl Prize for poetry. She lives in Warsaw.
Despite having published only a few volumes of poetry, she occupies a prominent place in the Polish literary landscape. Resisting categorization, she holds a position all her own, removed from current fashions or snobbery. One characteristic of her poetry is a dislike for overall views of the world or single emotional tonalities.
Contradiction is my element, the right for which I fight.
Julia Hartwig
For more information on the poet, see: Julia Hartwig
Born in 1971, Edward Pasewicz is a poet and writer. He has published poetic books:
"Dolna Wilda" (Lower Wilda) (2001),
"Nauki dla żebraków" (Lessons for Beggars),
"Wiersze dla Róży Filipowicz" (Poems for Róża Filipowicz) (2004),
"th" (2005),
"Henry Berryman Pieśni" (Henry Berryman Songs) (2006),
"Drobne! Drobne!"(2007),
"Muzyka na instrumenty strunowe, perkusję i czelestę" (Music for String Instruements, Percussion and Celesta" (2010)
"Pałacyk Bertolta Brechta" (Bertold Brecht's Little Palace) (2011)
Pasewicz also wrote a novel entitled "Śmierć w darkroomie" (Death in the Darkroom) (2007). His has published in numerous magazines (Rita Baum, ProArte, Studium, Czas Kultury, Ha!art) and his poems have been translated into German, English, Slovenian, Spanish and Italian. A co-founder of Krakowski Kolektyw Twórczy and Teatr Krakoteka, Edward Pasewicz lives in Kraków.
"The Wiersze w Metrze" / "Poems on the Underground" campaign was initiated by the Book Institute in Warsaw and British Council. The Warsaw campaign was inspired by similar projects taking place in Dublin, Paris, New York, Barcelona, Stockholm, Stuttgart and Moscow, and above all Poems on the Underground, which has been regularly taking place in London since 1986.
The campaign, taking place as part of the Polish EU Presidency, enjoys the Honorary Patronage of the Mayor of the Capital City of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski.
The campaign partners include: City of Warsaw Promotion Department, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Polish Cultural Institute in London, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London, Polish Cultural Institute in Paris, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Paris, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Madrid, Polish Cultural Institute in Kiev, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Beijing, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tokyo, the European Commission and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Date: 5th of September - 18th of September, 2011
Venue: underground system and public spaces in Madrid, Polish Embassy in Madrid
Organised by: Warsaw Destination Alliance
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute