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Wislawa Szymborska

Timeline (1923 - )

Poems by Wislawa Szymborska
Books - Links

Wislawa Szymborska, Wislawa Szymborska poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry, poetry, poetry, poetry

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Wislawa Szymborska (pronounced vis'wava sim'borska) was born in Prowent, Poland in 1923. When she was still a child, in the early 1930's, her family moved to Krakow.

When World War II broke out, Wislawa Szymborska was still a student, and had to continue her education in secret. Toward the end of the war she found work with the railroads, protecting her from being deported to the forced labor camps in Germany. She also found occasional work as an illustrator.

With the end of the war, she began her university studies, focusing on language, literature, and sociology. It was then that she connected with the Polish writing scene and published her first poems.

Because of difficult finances, she eventually had to drop out of school. She married in 1948 (and later divorced, in 1954). During this time she worked as a secretary and illustrator for a magazine.

With the rise of Soviet influence over Poland in the post-war era, Wislawa Szymborska, like many artists and intellectuals, initially embraced or, at least, accepted the new Soviet-style society. But she gradually distanced herself from official ideology which increasingly showed itself to be foreign-dominated bureaucratic totalitarianism and not supportive of the people. By the 1980s she was contributing material for underground samizdat publications in opposition to official ideology.

She spent much of her career as a columnist for a Polish literary review magazine, and many of her essays have been gathered together and published in book form.

In 1996 Wislawa Szymborska was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Although her poetry is loved throughout the world, she has published fewer than 250 poems.

Poems by Wislawa Szymborska

	A Contribution to Statistics
	A Few Words on the Soul
	Among the Multitudes
	Children of Our Era
	Classifieds
	I'm Working on the World
	Miracle Fair
	Nothing Twice
	Possibilities
	The Camel
	Three Oddest Words

Recommended Books

	Here, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Clare Cavanagh Amazon.com
	Miracle Fair: Selected Poems of Wislawa Szymborska, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Joanna Trzeciak Amazon.com
	Nothing Twice: Selected Poems, by Wislawa Szymborska / Stanislaw Baranczak Amazon.com
	Poems New and Collected, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak Amazon.com
	Sounds, Feelings, Thoughts, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Magnus J. Krynski Amazon.com
	View with a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Magnus J. Krynski Amazon.com

Related Links:

	Wislawa Szymborska - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wislawa_Szymborska Brief biography, bibliography, and links.
	Wislawa Szymborska - Poets.org http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/340 Short biography and a few sample poems.
	Wislawa Szymborska Poems - Poet Seers http://www.poetseers.org/nobel_prize_for_literature/wislawa_szymborska/library/ Several poems online.
	Polish Nobel Laurate Wislawa Szymborska Poems http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/web/arts_culture/literature/poetry/szymborska/poems/link.shtml Quite a few poems online, many with the original Polish side-by-side with the translations.

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Wislawa Szymborska

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Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

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