Liter[r]a [eng]

In Latin, the word litera refers to both a graphic symbol and the entire body of literary works. Literature is an important and special form of culture – both dialogic and self-reflective. This unique quality manifests on an individual, social, intercultural and geopolitical levels. Hence the significance of efforts to ensure mutual cross-fertilisation of literatures from different linguistic areas and intensive circulation of literary works on a global scale. Liter[r]a is our expression of care and efforts to promote Polish literary works abroad and support people who are able to take on literary translation challenges: linguistic, cultural, artistic, social and political.

In a world where communication increasingly assumes the form of slogans and memes, literature provides us with a unique opportunity to understand ourselves and each other to the fullest, also across borders. The Liter[r]a series of translation workshops and author meetings consists of eight events devoted to contemporary Polish literature, organised in four most important cultural and academic centres in Europe: Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Amsterdam.

The dialogic dimension of literature is reflected in the very formula of Liter[r]a events, where we host the co-creators of the intercultural literary dialogue, i.e. authors and translators of their works. During specialist translation workshops, their dialogue will be shared with university students of the Polish language and culture, translation trainees and people keen to explore such professional opportunity. The evening meetings with authors, which are open to a wider audience of experts curators, academics, media and, above all, the community of readers, provide space for an in-depth discussion of the vital role of literary translation as a form of co-creation of contemporary literary texts, as well as the reception and the dialogic potential of Polish literature in individual countries and language areas.

The Liter[r]a series is an initiative of the Olga Tokarczuk Foundation, implemented in cooperation with foreign partners, with the financial support of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage within the Promotion of Polish Culture Abroad programme for 2025.

On 26 March 2025, we invite you to the Sorbonne in Paris, where Mikołaj Grynberg and Margot Carlier will co-host a workshop based on the French translation of Rejwach – Je voudrais leur demander pardon, mais ils ne sont plus là (Actes Sud, 2023). The collection of several dozen texts that constitute a poignant, multifaceted story about the Jewish and Polish experience in the context of the second and third generations after the Holocaust. In addition to its purely literary value, this ‘small, penetrating prose’, also presents significant cultural and identity value. The author meeting with the Polish writer and the French translator of his work will be hosted by Oriane Jeancourt in the beautiful surroundings of La Librairie polonaise de Paris.