Szymborska, Wislawa Poet ; Trzeciak, Joanna Translator & Milosz, Czeslaw Contributor (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 159 pages. Published in 2001. Retrospective collection of poems. One of the greatest poetry books of our time. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Wislawa Szymborska's "Miracle Fair" in a felicitous English translation. A new selection of Szymborska's poems in English: Fresh and vital translations by Joanna Trzeciak that amount to a different approach, meticulously culled from her body of work in the Polish original. Part of the reason Szymborska's work resonates with readers is that it demands to be read ALOUD: Its "metaphorical intonation" is a "vocalise" (to paraphrase the great American poet Richard Howard), and these new translations are a "counter-voice" to the elegant translations of Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Canavagh. Among other nuances of translation, Trzeciak uses rhyme whenever she thinks it could work, as in Szymborska's love poems, where it does. The Introductory Essay by fellow Pole and fellow Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz is "must" reading. "Presents the full range of Wislawa Szymborska's major themes: The ironies of love, the wonders of nature's beauty, and the illusory character of art. Szymborska's voice emerges as that of a gentle subversive, self-deprecating in its wit yet graced with a genius for coaxing the extraordinary out of the ordinary" (Peter Davison). According to Szymborska, all poets are in a perpetual dialogue with the initial as well as the lasting epiphany, "I don't know" (the original title of her Nobel Prize Speech is "I Don't Know"). "Deep currents run / as strange as the echoes of old truths in prayer / There are no questions more urgent / than the naive ones" (Wislawa Szymborska). Wislawa Szymborska died on February 1, 2012, one of the most beloved literary figures of our time. An absolute "must-have" title for Wislawa Szymborska collectors. This copy comes with a 4.0 X 5.5 inch Nobel Prize Souvenir Card that bears Wislawa Szymborska's facsimile signature in black ink-pen on recto. This title is a late-modern classic. As far as we know, this is the only copy (with Nobel Prize Souvenir) of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare set thus. Joanna Trzeciak won The Heldt Prize for Translation for "Miracle Fair" in 2001. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996. One of the greatest poet/writers of the 20th century. A fine set. (SEE ALSO OTHER WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA AND ADAM ZAGAJEWSKI TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0393049396. no.