Remembering: Miłosz – Herbert/Krasnogruda, 13 – 16 August 2024

The poster of the 2024 Miłosz--Herbert symposium

This year’s edition of the annual Remembering Miłosz is taking place in the very particular moment which is the 20th anniversary of the death of Czesław Miłosz and the 100th anniversary of Herbert’s birthday.

Krzysztof Czyżewski and Paweł Próchniak, who are in charge of the programme of the upcoming symposium, emphasize that remembering is a very special manner in which memory works. Their wish is to enable the poets’ words to take root in the world of the living again.

Each day of the symposium will have its special theme initiated in the morning debate, which will lead to poetry readings, interpretative attempts and discussions.

The debate will be focussed on the following issues: the spirituality of poems, poetry as memory and the daemons of history.

It is important that during each day there should be a balance between a debate and a talk, or between a spoken essay and the conversation.

The participants will also have an opportunity to watch some films and video recordings that should be a complementary means of thinking about poetry, poets and poems.

Finally, there will be two kinds of practices that help the readers approach the poetry of Miłosz and Herbert:

Miłosz/calligraphy

Herbert/traces of memory

13 August/Tuesday

20:00

abandoned drifts/a workshop on a poem

Krzysztof Czyżewski, Paweł Próchniak

14 August/Wednesday

10:30

the spirituality of a poem/a debate

Krzysztof Czyżewski, Anna Piwkowska, Joanna Zach; chaired by: Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Koschany

12:30

Siena: Miłosz – Herbert/ a spoken essay

Dariusz Czaja, Szymon Uliasz

16:00

a Polish-Lithuanian mass/ the Żegary parish church

18:00

the river, the presence/ /a workshop on a poem

Krzysztof Czyżewski, Irena Grudzińska-Gross

21:00

the mystery of poetry reading/the amphitheatre of the Invisible Bridge

15 August/Thursday

10:30

poetry as memory/a debate

Irena Grudzińska-Gross, Marek Zaleski; chaired by: Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Koschany

12:30

poetry as memory/comments

chaired by: Krzysztof Czyżewski

16:00

for voices/ a workshop on a poem

Marianna Kijanovska

18:00

the memory of a poem/ a minor anthology

Anna Piwkowska, Jacek Podsiadło; chaired by Paweł Próchniak

20:30
brothers: films and poems/the presentation of films by Andrzej Miłosz

chaired by Małgorzata Sporek-Czyżewska

16 August/Friday

10:30

the daemons of history/ a debate

Tomasz Makowski, Adam Michnik, Krzysztof Pomian, Robert Traba; chaired by: Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Koschany

12:30

the daemons of history/ comments

chaired by Paweł Próchniak

18:00

reading the scripture of clouds/ a minor anthology

Marianna Kijanovska, RYszard Krynicki; chaired by Paweł Próchniak

20:30

Herbert. A Barbarian in the Garden/ the presentation of the film by Rafael Lewandowski;

a talk: Krzysztof Czyżewski, Maria Dzieduszycka

side activities

Miłosz/calligraphies

(rewriting)

each participan will be asked to choose and hand-rewrite one piece of poetry by Czesław Miłosz; the collection thus created will be an element of the library that stores – firstly – several forms of handwriting and – secondly – the testimony of the reading which is expressed by rewriting down a poem

Herbert/traces of memory

(voices)

during the symposium a collection of recordings will be made too; each person whose comment will be recorded will be asked two questions: about a piece of poetry that is important to him or her (or about a line taken from any of Herbert’s poems) and about the memory: of meeting Herbert, of the experience that goes with such a meeting, of reading him, ect

both the side activities should be important for two reasons – not only will it document the particular event, but it will also be related to a particular life experience, in the act of rewriting and in the memory that preserves the sense of the continuous presence of the poet and his words

the participants:

Dariusz Czaja

Małgorzata Sporek-Czyżewska

Krzysztof Czyżewski

Maria Dzieduszycka

Irena Grudzińska-Gross

Marianna Kijanowska

Ryszard Krynicki

Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Koschany

Tomasz Makowski

Adam Michnik

Anna Piwkowska

Jacek Podsiadło

Krzysztof Pomian

Paweł Próchniak

Robert Traba

Szymon Uliasz

Joanna Zach

Marek Zaleski