After the launch of the international tour in London, "Poems on the Underground" headed to Paris. The project takes meetings with poets, Spoke'n'Word festival, slam poetry workshops and a haiku competition to 7 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 visit 8 cities outside Poland: London, Paris, Madrid, Kiev, Beijing, Tokyo, and Brussels.
Poetry exhibitions on the underground are accompanied by meetings with authors, happenings, a haiku competition, Spoke’n’Word performance-poetry festival, slam workshops and a promotional campaign.
The campaign in Paris included:
• a poetry meeting with Krzysztof Siwczyk and Marcin Sendecki
• Polish poetry exhibitions in the Paris underground
• exhibitions in a public space
• Spoke'n'Word Festival with Polish and French performing poets, organised in co-operation with Slam Productions in Paris
• slam poetry workshops
• haiku competition devoted to Poland and Warsaw
• official web-site of the project: www.poetryfrompoland.com
The campaign was launched with a poetry meeting with Krzysztof Siwczyk and Marcin Sendecki at the Polish Embassy in Paris (1 rue de Talleyrand, 75343 Paris Cedex 07), on the 24th of August.
Krzysztof Siwczyk, born in 1977, is a poet, literary critic, occasionally an actor, and the author of 10 poetry volumes:
"Dzikie dzieci" ("Wild Children", Świadectwo, Bydgoszcz 1995), "Emil i my" ("Emil and Us", Czarne, Gładyszów 1999), "Dane dni" ("Given Days", Port Legnica, Legnica 2001), "Wiersze dla palących" ("Poems for Smokers", Instytut Mikołowski, Mikołów 2001), "Zdania z treścią" ("Sentences with Content", Biuro Literackie Port Legnica, Legnica 2003), "W państwie środka" ("In the Middle Kingdom", Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2005), "List otwarty (1995-2005)" ("Open Letter (1995-2005)", Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2006), "Im Reich der Mitte" (Edition Erata, Leipzig 2007), "Centrum likwidacji szkód" ("Claim Adjustment Centre", Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2008), "Koncentrat" ("Concentrate", WBPiCAK, Poznań 2010), as well as a poetry sheet "Długie dno" ("The Long Bottom", 1998) and a book of literary criticism "Ulotne obiekty ataku" ("Ephemeral Objects of Attack", Instytut Mikołowski, 2010).
Siwczyk is a laureate of the Czas Kultury magazine award (1996) for the best debut of the year and the Foundation for Culture award (1999). His poems have been published in all major literary magazines in Poland, and were also released abroad (Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Canada, France, Czech Republic, Bulgaria). Siwczyk's works have been also included in the following poetry anthologies: "Macie swoich poetów" ("You Have Your Poets", 1996 and 1997), "Antologia współczesnej poezji polskiej" ("Anthology of Contemporary Polish Poetry", 2000), "14.44" (2000), "Das Unsichtbare Lieben-Neue Polnische Lyrik" (1998),"Akslop" (Slovenia, 2005r.), "Vingt-quatre poetes polonais" (Murmure, France 2003).
Krzysztof Siwczyk played the leading role in Lech Majewski’s feature film "Wojaczek", for which he was nominated to the European Film Academy Award (Paris, 2000). The poet also appeared in "Bluesmani" ("Bluesmen", directed by Adam Sikora, 2000) and a multi-generation project "Czuję głód" ("I Feel Hunger", directed by Paweł Bogocz, 2008). The film "Wydalony" ("Expelled"), directed by Adam Sikora, in which Siwczyk also played the main role, premiered at the 2010 Era New Horizons film festival in Wrocław.
Since 2000, Siwczyk has been a member of the European Film Academy and the Polish Writers’ Association. He is a columnist at the Tygodnik Powszechny weekly, Polityka magazine and Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
Krzysztof Siwczyk co-hosted two TV programmes on TVP Kultura: "Czytelnia", a programme on books and "Poezjem" on poetry. Siwczyk works as an editor at Instytut Mikołowski, for the Arkadia literary magazine, and the irregular Litera magazine. He lives in Gliwice.
Born in 1967, Marcin Sendecki is a concrete poet. His most recently published poetry volumes include "Trap", "22" and "Pół" ("Half"). Marcin Sendecki has translated the works of Paul Bowles and James Schuyler. Together with Marcin Baran and Marcin Świetlicki he has edited two anthologies of crime poems: "Długie pożegnanie. Tribute to Chandler" anthology ("The Long Goodbye. Tribute to Chandler") and "Żegnaj laleczko. Wiersze noir" ("Farewell, My Dolly. Noir poetry"). He also published the "Pogoda ziemi. Wiersze polskie po 1918 roku anthology" ("The Earth's Weather. Polish Poems after 1918"). His works have been translated into 15 languages. He writes about books for Przekrój magazine.
"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: 24th of August – 6th of September, 2011
Venue: Metro system and public spaces in Paris
Organised by: Warsaw Destination Alliance, Polish Institute in Paris
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute