Oxford Translation Day: Poetry Evening with Tomasz Różycki

A conversation with one of the most remarkable Polish poets Tomasz Różycki about his work and its translations into English led by Anna Ready from Oxford University Press. The conversation with the poet focused on his career as a poet, essayist and translator, and was held in English, with readings of his work in Polish by Różycki himself and its English translations by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, a renowned translator of Polish literature in the UK. The reading was also followed by the commentaries of Rozycki's translators, Mira Rosenthal (Colonies, 2013) and Bill Johnston (Twelve stations, 2015), displayed on the screen.

Imagine that
there's no such thing as Eastern Europe, no
cellars for hiding neighbors, no transports,
no round-ups, never any dreams of going
from house to house
(from a poem called 'Military Exercises' in Colonies, translated by Mira Rosenthal) 

The event was supported by Programme on Modern Poland, Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation and the Polish Cultural Institute in London. A video recording of the event is available here. The full version of Kasia Szymanska's interview with Mira Rosenthal is available here and with Bill Johnston, here.

Tomasz Różycki is the author of seven poetry volumes which have been very well received in his native country and abroad. He was given the Kościelski Award for Dwanaście stacji /Twelve Stations and was shortlisted for the Nike Award (Polish Booker prize) for Kolonie /Colonies. The latter volume translated into English by Mira Rosenthal was shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize and the Griffin Poetry Prize last year and won the Northern California Book Award for Poetry in Translation. Różycki is also a translator in his own right, bringing French authors to the Polish audience.