Bill Johnston: Educator Extraordinaire
A tsunami of honours fell upon Bill Johnston in 2012. CR surfs on that giant wave with a few observations of its own, along with some from Tamara Trojanowska and from students who will never forget him.
Cosmopolitan Review is Back!
With a fresh and lively look, new writers, lots of reviews and book news, plus great features, CR blends topics light and serious, old and new, all of them focusing – or merely touching upon – something Polish, but not necessarily from a Polish perspective.
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Bill Johnston: Translator Extraordinaire
“Bill Johnston… was from another world. When many of us were dreaming about leaving Poland, here he was, settling right in!” – So recalls Tamara Trojanowska of her early encounter with an English teacher who mastered the Polish language.
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Created by Stalin, Embraced by Emigrants? Mazowsze, Śląsk and the Polish Folk Dance Movement in America
Mazowsze is arguably the most beautiful folk dance troupe in the world. Maja Trochimczyk poses the question: Does authenticity matter?
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“The Driest of Facts:” Witold Pilecki’s Mission in Auschwitz
Michał Kasprzak’s brilliant review cuts to the essence of “The Auschwitz Volunteer.”
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Books
Unvanquished: Joseph Piłsudski, Resurrected Poland and the Struggle for Eastern Europe
Peter Hetheringon’s mammoth biography brings Piłsudski to life on its pages, says reviewer Patrice Dabrowski. And while he’s at it, he provides the reader with a brief but thorough and lively history of Poland, as only a non-Pole can.
Features
Elegant Prewar Poland, Evoked by New Fonts from Graphic Artist Brendan Ciecko
During his brief stays in Warsaw and Kraków, American artist Brendan Ciecko came across interwar Polish typography – and that led him to discover the elegance and beauty of pre-WWII Poland. We can hardly wait for him to make these typefaces available to us.
Interviews
Chatting with Katy Carr
The singer/songwriter of Kommander’s Car – Katy Carr – had not met the “Kommander” until after her song about him became a hit. It was a thrill when she finally did. That said, her spiritus movens was always her Polish/British identity, and the history behind that. Justine Jablonska talks to Katy Carr.
Winter-Spring 2013
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Commentary
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Features
Elegant Prewar Poland, Evoked by New Fonts from Graphic Artist Brendan Ciecko
During his brief stays in Warsaw and Kraków, American artist Brendan Ciecko came across interwar Polish typography – and that led him to discover the elegance and beauty of pre-WWII Poland. We can hardly wait for him to make these typefaces available to us.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Interviews
Chatting with Katy Carr
The singer/songwriter of Kommander’s Car – Katy Carr – had not met the “Kommander” until after her song about him became a hit. It was a thrill when she finally did. That said, her spiritus movens was always her Polish/British identity, and the history behind that. Justine Jablonska talks to Katy Carr.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Features
Reculturing Designs
Designer Oleńka Lisiecka blends old time folk and city chic to great effect. Original and fun. Justine Jablonska casts a fashion eye on Lisiecka’s enterprise.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Features
Cabaret Liberation
Getting the vote is all well and good. But what if women want more than that? Beth Holmgren looks at Poland’s interwar cabaret culture.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Bulletin Board
2013 Bulletin Board
Lots of honors and awards for books – all reviewed in CR. Plus: An artist comes home; Elgar for the musically inclined; Manya, the Living History of Maria Skłodowska-Curie; and a beer named for Wojtek the Soldier Bear.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books
Unvanquished: Joseph Piłsudski, Resurrected Poland and the Struggle for Eastern Europe
Peter Hetheringon’s mammoth biography brings Piłsudski to life on its pages, says reviewer Patrice Dabrowski. And while he’s at it, he provides the reader with a brief but thorough and lively history of Poland, as only a non-Pole can.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books / Features
Jan Karski: The Story of a Secret State
Jan Karski is a hero not just for our times but for all times, says Irene Tomaszewski as she recalls her first meeting with the modest hero. He represents the best in humanity and the collective will of a nation that would not submit.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books
Kaia, Heroine of the 1944 Warsaw Rising
Meeting a heroine from the “generation of ‘44” is a privilege. Fortunately, Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm kept a record of her friendship with one of the Warsaw Uprising’s great women.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books
Stone Upon Stone
When the ideology is stripped away, say reviewer Joanna Szupinska about Wiesław Myśliwski’s Stone Upon Stone, all that is left is love for life and respect for the earth. Could one ask for anything more?
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books
The Other East and 19th-Century British Literature: Imagining Poland and the Russian Empire
The fickle affections of the Great Powers are well known in history. Thomas McLean’s The Other East looks at this unreliable relationship from a literary perspective. Reviewed by Lukasz Wodzynski.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books
Between the Brown and the Red: Nationalism, Catholicism, and Communism in 20th-Century Poland
Rome’s Most Faithful Daughter led astray? Neal Pease reviews Mikołaj Kunicki’s book about the politics of Bolesław Piasecki.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books
Giant
In this review of Aga Maksimowska’s Giant, Andrew Borkowski, whose Copernicus Avenue won the 2012 Toronto Book Award, may well be giving us a glimpse of next year’s winner.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books
Tatra Highlander Folk Culture in Poland and America
The longtime director of PIASA, Thaddeus Gromada, is a proud góral, as this book about Poland’s highlanders, reviewed by Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann, clearly shows. And take a look at his jump over the ciupaga. This is no armchair góral.
2013 Vol. 5 No. 1 / Books
The Warsaw Conspiracy
James Conroyd Martin’s very popular Polish trilogy is now complete. Martin has a genuine fondness for his characters, says reviewer Maureen Mroczek Morris, as does the reader.
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