Wrocław: UNESCO City of Literature

from Wroclaw In Your Pocket - January - April 2020

Wrocław: UNESCO City of Literature

The latest in Wrocław’s collection of accolades - welcome to Book Town.

2016 was a big year for Wrocław. First and foremost, it was a year that the city would spend boasting the title of UNESCO Capital of Culture, an honour it shared with San Sebastián, Spain, and one that would draw throngs of visitors from abroad and generate a packed calendar of cultural events. Less visibly, it was also the year when Wrocław could call itself UNESCO Book Capital, a distinction granted due to the city’s vigorous efforts to popularise readership and literature with regular festivals, fairs, and meetings with authors. During Wro’s Book Capital stint, a jaw-dropping 1640 literary events took place, with some 4000 distinguished literary guests invited from Poland and abroad.

Something else happened that year, though - in January, the Wrocław House of Literature (Wrocławski Dom Literatury) came into existence. With recent Nobel prize winner Olga Tokarczuk among its members, the organisation took it upon itself to expand the city’s already impressive literary programme, increase support for authors and translators, and, crucially, apply for UNESCO City of Literature status. The good news was announced on October: Wrocław would join the distinguished Cities of Literature bunch along with ten others - Angoulême, France; Beirut, Lebanon; Exeter, UK; Kuhmo, Finland; Lahore, Pakistan; Leeuwarden, Netherlands; Nanjing, China; Odessa, Ukraine; Slemani, Iraq; and Wonju, South Korea. This makes it the fourth Polish city to enter the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, after Kraków (City of Literature since 2013), Katowice (City of Music since 2015), and Łódź (City of Film since 2017).

**Promotional poster by Jakub Kamiński.**
Courtesy of Wrocławski Dom Literatury.

So, is Wrocław a city of famous Polish literary figures, birthplace of Adam Mickiewicz, perhaps, or of Henryk Sienkiewicz? Not really. In fact, the city doesn’t have much of a Polish past (if we’re talking about the last 700 years, at least), literary or otherwise. We’ve explained that whole deal on pages 27 and 41, but a quick summary goes as follows: Wrocław changed hands a lot throughout the ages, but was German - functioning under the name Breslau - from 1741 until WWII, after which it was given to Poland. Even as a German city, though, it wasn’t much of a literary hub; surprising, perhaps, given its size. Its best contribution to world literature came from the niche genre of German Baroque poetry, with the First and Second Silesian School of Poets flourishing here in the 17th century. The most influential of these Baroque poets was Angelus Silesius - yes, ‘Silesian Angel’ - whose true name was Johannes Scheffler. The great religious poet was also a physician and a Catholic priest, who converted from Lutheranism after immersing himself in the works of medieval Catholic mystics. Today, his name is attached to not one, but two literary prizes: the Angelus Central European Literature Award and the Silesius Poetry Award, both given out by the city of Wrocław. You can even find a monument dedicated to him in the courtyard of the Ossolineum (p.32).

After WWII, Wrocław played second fiddle to more robust literary and cultural centres like Kraków and Warsaw. There are some famous names connected to the city, however; they include poet and playwright Tadeusz Różewicz, mystery writer Marek Krajewski, and some lesser-known characters like Tymoteusz Karpowicz and Jacek Inglot. Fortunately, what it lacked in writers, Wrocław eventually made up in literary events, which currently include the Silesius International Poetry Festival (taking place annually in May), Apostrof International Festival of Literature (May), European Literature Night (May), International Crime Fiction and Mystery Festival (May-June), Fantasy Days (June-July), Authors’ Reading Month (July),

**Adam Kaczanowski reciting his own poetry with a trout in hand at PROZA.**

International Short Story Festival (October), and Good Books Fair (December), plus regular events at the Wrocław House of Literature clubhouse PROZA (Przejście Garncarskie 2, F-5), bookish cafes, and indie book shops.

**Storytelling at the Short Story Festival**
© Natalia Kabanow

These all will almost certainly take place again during Wro’s first year as City of Literature, but Wro is sure to cook up some new surprises as well. The special events programme will be revealed after this guide goes to print, on January 8th, 2020, so keep an eye out; you can also find up-to-date information about events on our website, under ‘what’s on’.

**Crowds at the Good Books Fair**
Photo by Andrzej Solnica, courtesy of Wrocławski Dom Literatury

There’s more to the local literature scene than events, of course. At any time of year, book enthusiasts can also explore Wro’s cool independent bookstores, like Tajne Komplety and the Spanish Bookstore (listed below); find out all about Adam Mickiewicz’s epic poem Pan Tadeusz at the appropriately named Pan Tadeusz Museum (p.46), and inhale the sweet musty smell of old tomes at the Ossolineum Library (p.32).

Happy bookworming!

WROCŁAW WRITERS

TADEUSZ RÓŻEWICZ

Born in 1921 in Radomsko, Różewicz was a poet and playwright known for his nihilistic, avant-garde works heavily influenced by the horrors of WWII, during which he fought in the Polish Home Army. His arguably most influential work is the 1960 play The Card Index (Kartoteka), a surrealist and non-chronological drama about a Polish WWII partisan. Różewicz moved to Wroclaw in 1968 and continued living here until his death in 2014, at the impressive age of 92.

What to read: The Survivors and Other Poems or Reading The Apocalypse In Bed: Selected Plays and Short Pieces, depending on whether you prefer poetry or theatre.

MAREK KRAJEWSKI

Born and bred in Wrocław, 50-something Marek Krajewski is one of the biggest names in the Polish mystery genre (and a linguist and Wrocław University lecturer, to boot). He is best known for the Eberhard Mock mystery series, which follows the adventures and misadventures of a police investigator in pre-WWII Wrocław, then Breslau. His books have been

What to read: Death in Breslau: An Eberhard Mock Investigation, the first book in the Eberhard Mock mystery series.

OLGA TOKARCZUK

While not technically a full-blown Wrocław writer, this intellectual, activist, and 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, nevertheless has strong ties to the city. Born in 1962 in Sulechów and residing primarily in the Lower Silesian village of Krajanów, Tokarczuk has a second home in Wrocław, where she spends time in connection with literary events and House of Literature goings-on.

What to read: to start with something light, try "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead," a mystery-style novel about an eccentric older woman living in a remote Lower Silesian village, who spends her winter months studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and investigating a string of murders. For more ambitious reading, go for Flights, a plotless assemblage of stories and musings about travel, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2017.