Liter[r]a [eng]

In Latin, ‘litera’ refers to both a graphic symbol and the entire body of literary texts. Literature is an important and unique manifestation of culture –both dialogical and self-reflective. This special characteristic is evident in individual, social, intercultural and geopolitical dimensions. For this reason, it is vital to ensure and support mutual interpenetration of literature emerging from different linguistic areas and to facilitate global circulation of literery works. Through the Liter[r]a project we not only promote Polish literary texts abroad, but also support and encourage people capable of taking on literary and translation challenges: linguistic, cultural, artistic, social and political.

In a world where meanings are conveyed more and more often by slogans and memes, it is literature that gives us the opportunity to understand both ourselves and each other most fully, also across borders. The Liter[r]a cycle of translation masterclasses and authors’ meetings cosists of eight events focusing on contemporary Polish literature, organised in four of Europe’s most important cultural and academic centres: Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Amsterdam.

The dialogical dimension of literature is reflected in the very format of the Literra events, where we invite co-creators of intercultural literary dialogue, i.e. authors and literary translators of their works. During advanced translation masterclasses, the opportunity to witness their dialogue is offered to people studying the Polish language and literature, who are training to become translators or interested to explore possible carrier options within this profession. Evening meetings with authors, open to the general public, experts, curators, academics, media and, above all – create a space for even more extensive dialogue and in-depth discussion, highlighting the importanceof literary translation as a form of co-creation of contemporary literary text, as well as the reception and dialogical potential of Polish literature in specific countries and language areas.

The Liter[r]a series is an initiative of the Olga Tokarczuk Foundation, implemented in cooperation with our partners in France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, with the support of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the Promotion of Polish Culture Abroad programme 2025.

On the 21th of May 2025, translation masterclass co-led by Karolina Kuszyk and Bernhard Hartmann were held at Humboldt University in Berlin. The discussion was based on the German translation of the book Poniemieckie (In den Häusern der anderen. In den Häusern der anderen. Spuren deutscher Vergangenheit in Westpolen, published by Christoph Links Verlag). Karolina Kuszyk’s book focuses how the foreign becomes familiar. It presents a new perspective on the complex history of Polish-German relations, recounted through the biographies of everyday objects and houses, silent witnesses to the absence of their former owners. The intertwined fates of objects and people described in Kuszyk’s reportage, reconstructed based on accounts provided by those who resettled the new Polish lands following WWII, interviews with experts and German treasure hunters, and conversations with representatives of three generations living in former German houses, sparked a lively discussion in Poland about German heritage. In 2024, Karolina Kuszyk and Bernhard Hartmann received the Georg Dehio Prize, awarded annually to authors and books that contribute to the popularisation of German culture and history in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2020, Kuszyk was also also awarded the Arthur Kronthal Prize by the Commission for the Study of the History of Germans in Poland, based in Marburg. Seven future translators currently studying at Slavic studies institutes at Humboldt University and the University of Potsdam took part in the advanced masterclass session on Wednesday morning, which was then followed by an evening meeting with the author and translator, held in the Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum auditorium of the Universitätsbibliothek. The meeting was expertly moderated by Brigitta Helbig-Mischewski and attended by nearly forty people, who then took part in the lively discussion that followed the official part of the meeting.