Czeslaw Milosz Year

2011 marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Czeslaw Milosz. Born in Szetejnie, in the heart of the Lithuanian wilderness, he was driven away by the tragic events of the 20th century, living consecutively in Warsaw, Krakow, Paris, and the United States, to return to Poland at the turn of the millennium.

He was not only a poet, prose writer, a translator and an essayist read all over the world, but also an extraordinarily insightful observer and witness to the epoch.

Our hope is that the hundred-year anniversary of Czeslaw Milosz’s birth will be a chance to reacquaint ourselves with his work, which has long prompted creative reflection on the condition of the contemporary world.

The Milosz Year program is made up of new book publications, conferences, discussions, and exhibitions devoted to the poet, organized in Poland and abroad – from Krasnojarsk through Vilnius, Krasnogruda, Krakow, and Paris, to New York and San Francisco. Its culminating point will be the second edition of the Milosz Festival, taking place in Krakow (May 9th-15th 2011).

During the course of the Czeslaw Milosz Literary Festival, whose second edition will be taking place from May 9th-15th 2011, the Book Institute will be organizing the MILOSZ 365 Translation Seminar. Conceived as a meeting between experienced and beginner translators of Milosz’s work, researchers and critics, the seminar will provide a chance for exchange of experience and knowledge between people involved in popularizing the works of the Nobel-Prize winner in various cultures and languages from across the world and – above all – in-depth work on particular translation issues under the guidance of experienced translators and authorities on Milosz’s work.

Our site now features a timeline of Milosz Year events held abroad. Click here to download. A timeline of Milosz Year events held in Poland is also available, click here to download.