That Falstaffian model for Sienkiewicz’s Zagłoba – patriot, soldier, miner, merchant, California’s Commissioner of Immigration and, according to Miłosz, a liar, braggart and drunkard (a remarkable CV) – left a colorful unpublished epistolary record at the Jagiellonian library. Discovered by Maureen Mroczek Morris with Lynn Ludlow and Roman Włodek, here they are.
Whether Empress Catherine was “Great” or not is debatable, but she was definitely pragmatic, as are all imperial rulers. Justine Jablonska talks to Eva Stachniak about her latest book and how she chooses her subjects.
The storks – that quintessential symbol of spring in Poland – were photographed in Szczebrzeszyn in the springtime by CR’s favorite photographer, Sławomir Nowosad.
2014 is a year of anniversaries in Poland commemorating a hard-won success, a tragic historical event, and another paying homage to a man with a special significance in Polish history.
On March 23, Poles celebrate Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day, while Hungarians celebrate Hungarian-Polish Friendship Day. Stephen Drapaka writes about this unique six century bond.
Her monumental sculptures sometimes resemble fractured bedrock on the surface of the earth, but she can also craft cedar to resemble handmade lace. Agnieszka Tworek profiles the artist, and her work.
Paweł Pawlikowski’s starkly beautiful black and white film, Ida, is one of the best of 2013. But reviewer Jodi Greig asks: can aesthetics blind one to the deeper meaning?
Solidarity brought around a change of power through compromise and a gradual – non-violent – transition. Anna Mazurkiewicz discusses the greatest compromise of modern time and a great model for our troubled times.
“Masterpieces of Polish Cinema,” organized and restored by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and curated by the great filmmaker himself, is the largest collection of classical Polish cinema to date.
Don Fredericksen reviews Krzysztof Zanussi’s brilliant film, Camouflage.
In this “City of Festivals,” artists, bands, dancers and mimes fill the streets while the small clubs fill with young people who have no intention of going home before sunrise.
Described by Roman Polanski as a troublemaker of immense charm, author Marek Hłasko looked like James Dean… but he was not a rebel without a cause.
Justine Jablonska talks to University of Warsaw sexologist Dr. Zbigniew Izdebski about changing attitudes to sex and gender igniting a bizarre reaction in some circles to a foreign word they don’t understand.
A many layered story about the sentimental education of an American student in post-war Europe told with wit, sensitivity and elegance.
(…) Every Turk hovers between tradition and modernity a thousand times a day – the hat or the charshaf [veil]; the mosque or the disco; the European Union or dislike the European Union. Until you can explore this country, writes Katarzyna Zwolak, read Witold Szablowski’s wonderful book.
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