Copernicus Avenue

It’s only been since my father’s generation has begun to pass away that I’ve come to recognize that their stories are the richest part of my inheritance…
– Andrew J. Borkowski

Passage from England: A Memoir

Frank Zajaczkowski’s memoir about growing up in a dysfunctional family and eventually learning his father’s story and coming to understand it.

Maps and Shadows

Krysia Jopek’s story of a gentle family uprooted by people who rearrange borders without hearing the gunshots or seeing the victims.

The Labyrinth: The Testimony of Marian Kołodziej

Recovery following a near fatal stroke unlocks memories buried for more than 50 years, which Marian Kołodziej renders into pen and ink drawings covering several rooms of his Labyrinth in the town of Harmęże, Poland. Ron Schmidt’s brilliant film allows you to enter that labyrinth, alone and in silence.

Polish Movie Nite presents Susannah Magers & In The Name of Their Mothers

Polish Movie Nite: Polish cinema, viewed and reviewed by Americans, leads them to a better understanding of “the complexities of contemporary Poland.”

Polish Movie Nite presents Arden Sherman & Knife in the Water

Developed during Polish Movie Nite, a series of film screenings at The Polish Club in San Francisco, these texts aim to introduce a wide variety of films that might be classified “Polish.”

The Best Five Places for Kissing in Warsaw

Karen Kovacik directs the creative writing program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Her books of poetry include Metropolis Burning, Beyond the Velvet Curtain, and Nixon and I.

Mrs. Noah

Oriana, a former journalist and community college instructor, now teaches poetry workshops. Her awards include The New Letters Award, Felix Pollack Award, and a residency at Yaddo. Her poems, essays, and translations have been published in Poetry, Ploughshares, Best American Poetry 1992, New Letters, Nimrod, The Iowa Review, Quarterly West, Texas Review, Wisconsin Review, American Poetry Review, Southern Poetry Review, Spoon River Review, and many other journals and anthologies.

Metropolis Burning

Karen Kovacik in Metropolis Burning interweaves the minute particulars of people’s lives.

Fall 2011 Bulletin Board

• ReJoyce: Rehabilitation Joystick for Computerized Exercise
• Volunteers Needed for the Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum
• Alex Storozynski, Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park
• Side by Side: Poland – Germany, 1000 Years of Art and History
• Irena Sendler and Fatima Frutos: The 2011 Kutxa Ciudad de Irun Poetry Prize

A Library, a Garden, and a Reunion: Warsaw in May

The rooftop garden of this stunning University of Warsaw library is not only beautiful but also a symbol of Poland’s blossoming capital city – and of the resilience of Polish intellectual life.

Why Speak Polish?

It’s easy to say which nation has the fastest trains (France) or the largest number of prime ministers who’ve probably been eaten by sharks (Australia), but it’s impossible to know which country has the best writers, let alone the best poets. Even so, if cash money were on the line, you’d find few critics willing to bet against Poland.
– David Orr,
The New York Times,
July 29, 2007

Isabelle Sokolnicka concurs, and thinks the language may have something to do with it.

An Invisible Rope – Portraits of Czesław Miłosz

Friends, colleagues, students, translators, celebrate the life of the great poet, a man defined by his language.