Kirjahaku

"Canvas," Zagajewski's second book to appear in English, features all of this poet's distinctive traits. In these sixty-one poems, syntax explodes, masses of detail spill from profuse catalogs, lines break in ways apt but unexpected, and compressed lyrics alternate with extended riffs. European culture is the poet's native province throughout these explorations, and time is a recurrent metaphysical concern.

Powerful New work by a modern master. You must listen, listen, listen.Tired springs breathe under water.At four in the morningthe last, lonely bolt of lightningscribbles something quickly in the sky.It says "No." Or "Never."Or "Take courage, the fire's not dead."-from "The Last Storm" Mysticism for Beginners is the third and most beautiful of Adam Zagajewski's collections to appear in English. The poems are about nature, history, the life of cities, the transformations of art, the spiritual essence of everyday life. Their remarkable staying power derives from the gentle meditative authority of Zagajewski's voice, here expertly rered into English by Clare Cavanagh. Zagajewski's committed, compassionate poems offer access to the mysteries at the heart of experience.

I love to swim in the sea, which keepstalking to itselfin the monotone of a vagabondwho no longer recalls exactly how long he's been on the road. Swimming is like prayer: palms join and part, join and part, almost without end.--from "On Swimming" Without End draws from each of Adam Zagajewski's English-language collections, both in and out of print--Tremor, Canvas, and Mysticism for Beginners--and features new work that is among his most refreshing and rewarding. These poems, lucidly translated, share the vocation that allows us, in Zagajewski's words, "to experience astonishment and to stop still in that astonishment for a long moment or two."

"The highway became the Red Sea.""We moved through the storm like a sheer valley.""You drove; I looked at you with love."""" from "Storm""""""One of the most gifted and readable poets of his time, Adam Zagajewski is proving to be a contemporary classic. Few writers in either poetry or prose can be said to have attained the lucid intelligence and limpid economy of style that have become a matter of course with Zagajewski. It is these qualities, combined with his wry humor, gentle skepticism, and perpetual sense of history's dark possibilities, that have earned him a devoted international following. This collection, gracefully translated by Clare Cavanagh, finds the poet reflecting on place, language, and history. Especially moving here are his tributes to writers, friends known in person or in books people such as Milosz and Sebald, Brodsky and Blake which intermingle naturally with portraits of family members and loved ones. "Eternal Enemies" is a luminous meeting of art and everyday life."

A new essay collection by the noted Polish poet For Adam Zagajewski--one of Poland's great poets--the project of writing, whether it be poetry or prose, is an occasion to advance what David Wojahn has characterized as his "restless and quizzical quest for self-knowledge." Slight Exaggeration is an autobiographical portrait of the poet, arranged not chronologically but with that same luminous quality that distinguishes Zagajewski's spellbinding poetry--an affinity for the invisible. In a mosaic-like blend of criticism, reflections, European history, and aphoristic musings, Zagajewski tells the stories of his life in glimpses and reveries--from the Second World War and the occupation of Poland that left his family dispossessed to Joseph Brodsky's funeral on the Venetian island of San Michele--interspersed with intellectual interrogations of the writers and poets (D. H. Lawrence, Giorgos Seferis, Zbigniew Herbert, Paul Val ry), composers and painters (Brahms, Rembrandt), and modern heroes (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke) who have influenced his work. A wry and philosophical defense of mystery, Slight Exaggeration recalls Zagajewski's poetry in its delicate negotiation between the earthbound and the ethereal, "between brief explosions of meaning and patient wandering through the plains of ordinary days." With an enduring inclination to marvel, Zagajewski restores the world to us--necessarily incomplete and utterly astonishing.

A stunning new collection from Poland's leading poet Give me back my childhood, republic of loquacious sparrows, measureless thickets of nettlesand the timid wood owl's nightly sobs. One of the most vibrant voices of our time, Adam Zagajewski is a modern master of the poetic form. In Asymmetry, his first collection of poems in five years, he revisits the themes that have long concerned him: the enduring imprint of history, the beauty of nature, the place of the exile. Though as sanguine as ever, Zagajewski often turns to elegy in this deeply powerful collection, remembering loved ones he's lost: a hairdresser, the philosopher Krzystzof Michalski, and, most poignantly, his parents. A moving reflection on family, the sublimity of everyday life, death, and happiness, Asymmetry is a magnificent distillation of an astounding poetic voice.

A stunning, intimate collection by the late great Polish poet Adam Zagajewski. . . . I think I sought wisdom (without resignation) in poemsand also a certain calm madness.I found, much later, a moment's joyand melancholy's dark contentment. In True Life, the Polish writer Adam Zagajewski, one of the world's most admired and beloved poets, turns his gaze to the past with piercing clarity and a tone of wry, lyrical melancholy. He captures the rhythms of a city street on the page and the steady beat of the passage of time against it ("Roads cannot be destroyed // Even if peonies cover them / smelling like eternity") and writes of the endless struggle between stasis and change, between movement and stillness ("We knew / it would be the same / as always // It would all go back to normal"). Mary Oliver called Zagajewski "the most pertinent, impressive, meaningful poet of our time," and Philip Boehm wrote in The New York Times Book Review that his poems "pull us from whatever routine threatens to dull our senses, from whatever might lull us into mere existence." True Life, first published in Polish in 2019 and translated with genius by Clare Cavanagh, reveals the astonishing, immortal depths of Zagajewski's insight and artistry.

A stunning, intimate collection by the late great Polish poet Adam Zagajewski. . . . I think I sought wisdom (without resignation) in poemsand also a certain calm madness.I found, much later, a moment's joyand melancholy's dark contentment. In True Life, the Polish writer Adam Zagajewski, one of the world's most admired and beloved poets, turns his gaze to the past with piercing clarity and a tone of wry, lyrical melancholy. He captures the rhythms of a city street on the page and the steady beat of the passage of time against it ("Roads cannot be destroyed // Even if peonies cover them / smelling like eternity") and writes of the endless struggle between stasis and change, between movement and stillness ("We knew / it would be the same / as always // It would all go back to normal"). Mary Oliver called Zagajewski "the most pertinent, impressive, meaningful poet of our time," and Philip Boehm wrote in The New York Times Book Review that his poems "pull us from whatever routine threatens to dull our senses, from whatever might lull us into mere existence." True Life, first published in Polish in 2019 and translated with genius by Clare Cavanagh, reveals the astonishing, immortal depths of Zagajewski's insight and artistry.

"Wahre Poesie kann nicht ohne die Begegnung mit dem Geist existieren." Diese Begegnung färbt die Poesie laut Adam Zagajewski mit Fragen, mit Begeisterung und mit Zweifeln, und das ist seiner Meinung nach das Wesen der Poesie. In seinem Festvortrag anlässlich der Verleihung des Leopold Lucas-Preises 2016 beschreibt er sein Verständnis von Dichtung sowie seine Forderungen an sie. Poesie dürfe sich nicht vom Alltäglichen abwenden, da sie sich vom Wirklichen, vom Konkreten nähre. Adam Zagajewski versteht Poesie nicht als Antwort, sondern als Pause von den Geschehnissen in der Welt, die nicht zu begreifen sind. Zagajewskis Werke sind von philosophischen und theologischen Aspekten geprägt und schlagen Brücken der Begegnung und des Verstehens zwischen Ost- und Westeuropa und dem nordamerikanischen Kontinent.

In Lemberg geboren und in Gleiwitz aufgewachsen, verbringt Adam Zagajewski seine Jugend im Krakau der sechziger Jahre. Er erzählt vom Stöbern nach verbotenen Büchern im Antiquariat, vom verwahrlosten ehemaligen Judenviertel Kazimierz und von einem jungen Geistlichen namens Karol Woityla, der bei seiner Tante ein und aus ging. Wie beiläufig verdichten sich die Erinnerungen zum persönlichen Bildungsroman eines der wichtigsten polnischen Dichter der Gegenwart.

Adam Zagajewski var en av Polens största poeter. När han gick bort 2021 hade han hunnit ge ut ett tiotal diktsamlingar, liksom ett antal essäsamlingar och två prosaverk.Det sanna livet innehåller ett urval dikter ur hans två sista böcker. Det är poesi som rör sig mellan nuet och minnena, Europa och Amerika, den prosaiska döden och oväntade stunder av glädje.Emi-Simone Zawall har skrivit förord och dikterna är tolkade av Irena Grönberg.