On June 3rd, during the official gala at the Polish Theatre, the first Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award was presented to W. S. Merwin. American poet received a statuette and 50.000 USD. The Laureate was selected by an international jury composed of poets, essayists, translators and publishers. The Zbigniew Herbert Literary Award is granted for the entirety of the poet’s creative output.
“The Zbigniew Herbert Literary Award was granted for the first time this year, but there are many more such ceremonies ahead of us. I am sure they will become important cultural events in Poland. I am moved that Herbert’s work is being continued – through today’s ceremony of Award presentation, as well as many other initiatives which have been undertaken by the Foundation – said Katarzyna Herbert, founder of the Foundation and Zbigniew Herbert’s widow.
During the laudation ceremony, Jarosław Mikołajewski, poet, essayist and translator, said on behalf of the Jury: „The Jury awarded one the greatest poets of our times, whose work is exceptionally close to the Award patron because of the purity and precision of his language, bravery in picturing and ethical tension in his messages.”
After receiving the statuette designed by Szaroszyk & Rycerski Architekci studio, W.S. Merwin gave a short speech focused on the meaning of poetry in the modern world. The ceremony audience – representatives of culture, media and business – have also had a chance to listen to Merwin’s poems in the Author’s interpretation.
To add splendor to the evening, singers known from the popular music show The Voice of Poland – Natalia Sikora and Juliusz Kamil – performed their artistic interpretations of Zbigniew Herbert’s and W. S. Merwin’s poetry. The ceremony will be broadcasted on June 4 at 8:00 p.m. on TVP Kultura channel.
In addition to the ceremony in the Polish Theatre, W. S. Merwin will also participate in an open meeting for students and poetry enthusiasts that will take place on June 4 at 5:15 p.m., at the “Artes Liberales” Department of the University of Warsaw. The meeting will be hosted by one of the well-known Polish poets – Adam Zagajewski. The discussion will be dedicated to the modern poetry and Zbigniew Herbert’s role in it, ecology in Merwin’s poems as well as “Imię powietrza” [“Name of the Air”] poetry book – the first in Poland selection of Merwin’s poems, that has just been published by Znak publishing house.
„Imię powietrza” is a selection of over 60 poems representing all periods in W.S. Merwin’s writing – from the 1950s to the beginning of the 21st century. As Edward Hirsch wrote in the afterword: “it is the essence of his whole life’s work. It is a modern book that shines with the starry sparkles of eternity”. The book is accompanied by a personal introduction by W. S. Merwin, where he describes his friendship with Zbigniew Herbert. The selection of poems was done by Agata Hołobut and they were translated by: Krzysztof Czyżewski, Mieczysław Godyń, Julia Hartwig, Magda Heydel, Agata Hołobut, Karolina Kopczyńska, Paweł Marcinkiewicz, Czesław Miłosz, Zofia Prele, Tadeusz Rybowski and Franek Wygoda.
The book will be soon available in bookstores and at www.znak.com.pl