Wisława Szymborska

Author profile

born

in Bnin, Kornik, Poland

July 02, 1923

died

February 01, 2012

gender

female

genre

Poetry

influences

Czesław Miłosz

About this author

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Wisława Szymborska (Polish pronunciation: [vʲisˈwava ʂɨmˈbɔrska], born July 2, 1923 in Kórnik, Poland) is a Polish poet, essayist and translator. She was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. In Poland, her books reach sales rivaling prominent prose authors[citation needed]—although she once remarked in a poem entitled "Some like poetry" [Niektórzy lubią poezję] that no more than two out of a thousand people care for the art.[1]

Szymborska frequently employs literary devices such as irony, paradox, contradiction, and understatement, to illuminate philosophical themes and obsessions. Szymborska's compact poems often conjure large existential puzzles, touching on issues of ethical import, and reflecting on the condition of people both as...more Wisława Szymborska (Polish pronunciation: [vʲisˈwava ʂɨmˈbɔrska], born July 2, 1923 in Kórnik, Poland) is a Polish poet, essayist and translator. She was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. In Poland, her books reach sales rivaling prominent prose authors[citation needed]—although she once remarked in a poem entitled "Some like poetry" [Niektórzy lubią poezję] that no more than two out of a thousand people care for the art.[1]

Szymborska frequently employs literary devices such as irony, paradox, contradiction, and understatement, to illuminate philosophical themes and obsessions. Szymborska's compact poems often conjure large existential puzzles, touching on issues of ethical import, and reflecting on the condition of people both as individuals and as members of human society. Szymborska's style is succinct and marked by introspection and wit.

Szymborska's reputation rests on a relatively small body of work: she has not published more than 250 poems to date. She is often described as modest to the point of shyness[citation needed]. She has long been cherished by Polish literary contemporaries (including Czesław Miłosz) and her poetry has been set to music by Zbigniew Preisner. Szymborska became better known internationally after she was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize. Szymborska's work has been translated into many European languages, as well as into Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese and Chinese.

In 1931, Szymborska's family moved to Kraków. She has been linked with this city, where she studied, worked, and still resides, ever since.

When World War II broke out in 1939, she continued her education in underground lessons. From 1943, she worked as a railroad employee and managed to avoid being deported to Germany as a forced labourer. It was during this time that her career as an artist began with illustrations for an English-language textbook. She also began writing stories and occasional poems.

Beginning in 1945, Szymborska took up studies of Polish language and literature before switching to sociology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. There she soon became involved in the local writing scene, and met and was influenced by Czesław Miłosz. In March 1945, she published her first poem Szukam słowa ("I seek the word") in the daily paper Dziennik Polski; her poems continued to be published in various newspapers and periodicals for a number of years. In 1948 she quit her studies without a degree, due to her poor financial circumstances; the same year, she married poet Adam Włodek, whom she divorced in 1954. At that time, she was working as a secretary for an educational biweekly magazine as well as an illustrator.

During Stalinism in Poland in 1953 she participated in the defamation of Catholic priests from Kraków who were groundlessly condemned by the ruling Communists to death.[1] Her first book was to be published in 1949, but did not pass censorship as it "did not meet socialist requirements." Like many other intellectuals in post-war Poland, however, Szymborska remained loyal to the PRL official ideology early in her career, signing political petitions and praising Stalin, Lenin and the realities of socialism. This attitude is seen in her debut collection Dlatego żyjemy ("That is what we are living for"), containing the poems Lenin and Młodzieży budującej Nową Hutę ("For the Youth that Builds Nowa Huta"), about the construction of a Stalinist industrial town near Kraków. She also became a member of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party.

Like many Polish intellectuals initially close to the official party line, Szymborska gradually grew estranged from socialist ideology and renounced her earlier political work. Although she did not officially leave the party until 1966, she began to establish contacts with dissidents. As early as 1957, she befriended Jerzy Giedroyc, the editor of the influential Paris-based emigré journal Kultura, to which she also contributed. In 1964 s(less)

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Wisława Szymborska's Books

Average rating: 4.36 · 4,508 ratings · 361 reviews · 64 distinct works · Similar authors

	View With a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems by Wisława Szymborska, Stanisław Barańczak (Translator), Clare Cavanagh (Translator) 4.38 of 5 stars 4.38 avg rating — 1,666 ratings — published 1995 — 9 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poems New and Collected by Wisława Szymborska, Clare Cavanagh (Translator) 4.41 of 5 stars 4.41 avg rating — 1,106 ratings — published 1998 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Miracle Fair: Selected Poems by Wisława Szymborska, Joanna Trzeciak (Translator), Czesław Miłosz (Introduction) 4.42 of 5 stars 4.42 avg rating — 201 ratings — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Here by Wisława Szymborska, Stanisław Barańczak (Translator), Clare Cavanagh (Translator) 4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 avg rating — 263 ratings — published 2009 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Monologue of a Dog by Wisława Szymborska, Stanisław Barańczak (Translator), Clare Cavanagh (Translator) 4.28 of 5 stars 4.28 avg rating — 166 ratings — published 2005	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	People on a Bridge by Wisława Szymborska, Adam Czerniawski (Translator) 4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 avg rating — 165 ratings — published 1990 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sounds, Feelings, Thoughts: Seventy Poems by Wislawa Szymborska by Wisława Szymborska, Magnus J. Kruyski (Editor) 4.39 of 5 stars 4.39 avg rating — 113 ratings — published 1981 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chwila 4.35 of 5 stars 4.35 avg rating — 106 ratings — published 2000 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nonrequired Reading by Wisława Szymborska, Clare Cavanagh 4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 103 ratings — published 1973 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dwukropek 4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 85 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Wisława Szymborska…

Quotes by Wisława Szymborska

“When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.

When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.”
― Wisława Szymborska, Poems New and Collected

tags: future, silence

1,534 people liked it

“I'm old-fashioned and think that reading books is the most glorious pastime that humankind has yet devised.”
― Wisława Szymborska

tags: reading

128 people liked it

“The Three Oddest Words

When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.
When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.
When I pronounce the word nothing,
I make something no nonbeing can hold.”
― Wisława Szymborska

71 people liked it

See all Wisława Szymborska's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: poetry	27	144	Mar 17, 2009 08:34pm
¡ POETRY !: How to get acquainted with sound.	12	29	Dec 03, 2011 08:17pm
Reading with Style: 10.6 - The Uncommon Letter	18	41	Dec 04, 2011 08:58am
Read a book from ...: Poland	29	202	Dec 22, 2011 04:34am
Loosed in Transla...: Wisława Szymborska	4	43	Feb 02, 2012 04:02pm
Nobel Prize Winners: * Welcome and Introductions	76	89	Jul 28, 2012 11:29pm
The Perks of Bein...: 'Bright Star' Discussion Thread (July/August 2012)	18	74	Aug 28, 2012 07:46am
Gatti e letteratura: Poesie	6	10	Oct 09, 2012 06:22am
Book Nook Cafe: Poetry - closed to new posts	467	175	Nov 27, 2012 07:46am

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Wisława Szymborska

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Wisława Szymborska

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Quotes by Wisława Szymborska

Topics Mentioning This Author

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combine editions
Wisława Szymborska's Books