Karol Lesman , photo Agnès Moyon / Instytut Książki
Karol Lesman, literary translator of Polish into Dutch, received the Transatlantyk Award on Friday evening in Kraków. "I feel like Tristan getting a Nobel Prize for his love of Isolde", confessed the winner from the Netherlands.
The award is given every year by the Kraków Book Instititute to personalities who contribute to promoting Polish culture abroad. The award was presented to Lesman by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bogdan Zdrojewski. The ceremony was part of the ongoing Third World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature. The evening's ceremonies took place at the Słowacki Theater and were attended by some 250 people from all over the world - all translators of Polish into other languages.
Along with comparing his feelings for translation to the proverbial love of Tristan for Isolde - "Getting an award for a profession that one loves so much amounts to double happiness", Lesman added - he expressed his gratitude to the many individuals and institutions without which his translations would have remained "sleeping dreams."
The Minister of Culture thanked all the translators in attendance at the gala for their "difficult and important work." According to Zdrojewski, their task requires a significant amount of knowledge and respect for Polish culture, but also empathy and an understanding of phenomena difficult to understand for Poles themselves.
He expressed his admiration for "enormous achievements" in the field. "In many countries, the activity of our artists, writers, poets, and is known only through your work", said Zdrojewski. He admitted that when he travels the world, it often seems to him that it is impossible to translate the poetry of Miłosz, Herbert or Szymborska in Chinese or Arabic, for example. However, upon speaking to foreigners who understand Polish culture, he admits that "the impossible becomes possible," and that Polish poetry can indeed be translated in other languages.
"Even arduous and passionate work often does not give financial satisfaction when it comes to translators", said Zdrojewski. According to the Minister, efforts are currently made to give more financial support to translators - this year an extra half-million Polish złoty (over 115,000 euro) was budgeted for Polish translations into other languages.
Karol Lesman (born 1951) has translated 57 Polish books into Dutch. In addition to translation, he also organizes meetings with Polish authors in the Netherlands. He is an admirer of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. He publishes articles on Polish literature in the Dutch press. His recent works include Enough by Szymborska. He is currently working on a translation of The Doll by Bolesław Prus.
The Transatlantyk Award comes with a 10,000 euro prize and a statuette by sculptor Łukasz Kieferling, and has been awarded by the Book Institute since 2005. It is given to people who promote Polish culture outside of Poland. Its aim is also to facilitate the integration of translators into literary circles. The prize is named after Witold Gombrowicz’s famous novel.
Participation is open to citizens of other countries (including Poles with a foreign passport) - translators, publishers, critics and organizers of cultural life. Candidates are submitted by Polish and foreign institutions involved in culture, such as research centers, publishing houses and artistic associations.
The winner is selected by a jury consisting of Grzegorz Gauden (director of the Book Institute), Ireneusz Kania, Ksenia Starosielska, Beata Stasińska and Olga Tokarczuk. Previous winners of the Transatlantyk Award are Henryk Bereska (2005), Anders Bodegard (2006), Albrecht Lempp (2007), Ksenia Starosielska (2008), Biserka Rajcić (2009), Pietro Marchesani (2010), Vlasta Dvorackova (2011) and Yi Lijun (2012).
Source: PAP
Translation: LB 22/06/2013