The new Reading Małopolska website takes readers on a bilingual journey across the meandering alleys of Kraków, tracing the footsteps of Polish literary greats: Stanisław Lem, Sławomir Mrożek, Czesław Miłosz as well as leading voices of the young generation of poets and writers
The authors of the Reading Małopolska project explain that the choice fell on the city of Kraków, because it is home to a record number of poets, translators and publishers, the resident number of whom is unprecedented on a European scale. The city is a true hub of poetic writing, as well as translations and the publishing of poetic verse. It is also the home to many a frictions between tradition and the avant-garde. Kraków regularly hosts numerous book fairs and literary festivals, two of which - the Conrad Festival and the Miłosz Festival - are considered the most important events of their kind on a national scale. Other festivals hosted by the city offer a variety of events in all genres of art, and propose numerous encounters between literature and poetry and other fields of culture. The city is also home to many institutions and literary associations, among them the Book Institute (Instytut Książki). All of these factors make Kraków a cultural city with a huge potential, and a place associated with creative energy across the entire country, and abroad.
Andrzej Franaszek, the author of Czesław Miłosz's biography and this year's finalist of Poland's most prestigious literary prize, the Nike, begins his introduction to the virtual tour across Małopolska with the following words:
Czesław Miłosz's way to the city of Kraków, where he spent the final years of his life, ran across numerous and winding roads; leading from the old pre-war city of Kraków, through Krzeszowice, Goszyce, and the Kraków of 1945. He was also attracted to Kraków through his early memories of Vilnus from the days of his youth
Franaszek guides us as we peek into the headquarters of the legendary Tygodnik Powszechny weekly, the auditorium of the Collegium Novum at the Jagiellonian University, and as we visit the Planty park and Rynek main square of the city. Franaszek also takes us to the home of Wisława Szymborska, where Miłosz was a frequent guest, and across restaurants and cafes - Pod Baranem or the Guliwer bar on Bracka street, where Miłosz was also a frequent visitor.
As we head onto the virtual tour of Jewish literature, we are taked to Schindler's Factory, to the 18th century synagogue in Nowy Sącz and to the old Jewish cemetery in Brzesko, the little town that is home to the novel from Roman Brandstaetter, Śmierć rozwiązała wszystkie sprzeczności (Death Solved All Contradictions).
Buzzing pubs, little cafes, elegant restaurants and the dark patios of Kraków's Kazimierz district are the backdrop of the Criminal Trail and we witness places that were the scenery of literary criminals and crooks.
The Reading Małopolska website also offers a look at the city of Kraków and the rest of the Małopolska region through the eyes of journalists, young writers, or women writers and poets.
The memories of Mrożek guide the readers to the Nowa Huta of his debut novel, and thanks to the author's letters and newspaper columns we are also acquainted with the two most significant theatres of Kraków. We get to know them not as the venues where his performances were staged, but rather as places that hosted the city's key artistic events, which were part and parcel of the history of Kraków and Poland itself.
The website offers its users a tour across the Stanisław Lem Trail, the Sławomir Mrożek Trail, the Czesław Miłosz Trail, the Women's Trail, the Criminal Trail, the Jewish Literature Trail, the Young Literature Trail and the Contemporary Reportage Trail.
In the year 2000, Kraków was presented with the title of the European City of Culture, an since 2010 it has been applying for the title of a UNESCO City of Literature. Apart from the various Trails, the Reading Małopolska website offers its visitors information about ongoing liteary events, on-line reviews, numerous articles and video coverage. The website has a Polish and English version.
Editor: SRS
Source: www.readingmalopolska.pl