Wisława Szymborska





Wisława Szymborska

Author profile


born
July 02, 1923 in Bnin, Kornik, Poland

died
February 01, 2012

gender
female

genre

influences
Czeslaw Milosz


About this author

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


Average rating: 4.36 · 2,701 ratings · 264 reviews · 52 distinct works
View With a Grain of Sand: ...
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4.41 of 5 stars 4.41 avg rating — 1,065 ratings — published 1995 — 7 editions
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Poems New and Collected
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4.43 of 5 stars 4.43 avg rating — 629 ratings — published 1998 — 2 editions
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Miracle Fair: Selected Poems
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4.43 of 5 stars 4.43 avg rating — 145 ratings2 editions
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Monologue of a Dog
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4.27 of 5 stars 4.27 avg rating — 131 ratings — published 2005
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Here
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4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 avg rating — 150 ratings — published 2009 — 10 editions
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People on a Bridge
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4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 avg rating — 93 ratings — published 1990
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Sounds, Feelings, Thoughts:...
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4.32 of 5 stars 4.32 avg rating — 75 ratings — published 1981 — 2 editions
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Nonrequired Reading
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4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 74 ratings — published 1992 — 5 editions
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Chwila
4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 2002 — 2 editions
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Dwukropek
4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2005 — 3 editions
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More books by Wisława Szymborska…
“I'm old-fashioned and think that reading books is the most glorious pastime that humankind has yet devised.”
Wisława Szymborska

“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

“The joy of writing.
The power of preserving.
Revenge of a mortal hand.

Wisława Szymborska, View With a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
The Next Best Boo...: poetry 27 120 Mar 17, 2009 08:34pm  
¡ POETRY !: How to get acquainted with sound. 12 23 Dec 03, 2011 08:17pm  
Reading with Style: 10.6 - The Uncommon Letter 18 33 Dec 04, 2011 08:58am  
Read a book from ...: Poland 29 182 Dec 22, 2011 04:34am  
Loosed in Transla...: Wisława Szymborska 4 31 Feb 02, 2012 04:02pm  
Goodreads Italia: Wislawa Szymborska. 5 libri (e una poesia) per ricordare l’autrice Premio Nobel appena scomparsa 2 11 Feb 03, 2012 01:00am  
Book Nook Cafe: * Poetry 325 145 3 hours, 2 min ago