Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Her work has been translated into English and many European languages, as well as into Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Persian and Chinese. ==Life== Wisława Szymborska was born on 2 July 1923 in Prowent, Poland (now part of Kórnik, Poland), the second daughter of Wincenty Szymborski and Anna (née Rottermund) Szymborska.
After Zamoyski's death in 1924, her family moved to Toruń, and in 1931 to Kraków, where she lived and worked until her death in early 2012. When World War II broke out in 1939, she continued her education in underground classes.
After Zamoyski's death in 1924, her family moved to Toruń, and in 1931 to Kraków, where she lived and worked until her death in early 2012. When World War II broke out in 1939, she continued her education in underground classes.
After Zamoyski's death in 1924, her family moved to Toruń, and in 1931 to Kraków, where she lived and worked until her death in early 2012. When World War II broke out in 1939, she continued her education in underground classes.
From 1943, she worked as a railroad employee and managed to avoid being deported to Germany as a forced labourer.
In 1945, she began studying Polish literature before switching to sociology at Jagiellonian University in Kraków.
In March 1945, she published her first poem, "Szukam słowa" ("Looking for words"), in the daily newspaper Dziennik Polski.
In 1948, she quit her studies without a degree, due to poor financial circumstances; the same year, she married poet Adam Włodek, whom she divorced in 1954.
Her first book was to be published in 1949, but did not pass censorship as it "did not meet socialist requirements". Szymborska adhered to the People's Republic of Poland's (PRL) official ideology early in her career, signing an infamous 1953 political petition condemning Polish priests accused of treason in a show trial.
Her first book was to be published in 1949, but did not pass censorship as it "did not meet socialist requirements". Szymborska adhered to the People's Republic of Poland's (PRL) official ideology early in her career, signing an infamous 1953 political petition condemning Polish priests accused of treason in a show trial.
In 1964, she opposed a Communist-backed protest to The Times against independent intellectuals, demanding freedom of speech instead. In 1953, Szymborska joined the staff of the literary review magazine Życie Literackie (Literary Life), where she continued to work until 1981 and from 1968 had a book review column, Lektury Nadobowiązkowe.
In 1948, she quit her studies without a degree, due to poor financial circumstances; the same year, she married poet Adam Włodek, whom she divorced in 1954.
As early as 1957, she befriended Jerzy Giedroyc, the editor of the influential Paris-based émigré journal Kultura, to which she contributed.
In 1964, she opposed a Communist-backed protest to The Times against independent intellectuals, demanding freedom of speech instead. In 1953, Szymborska joined the staff of the literary review magazine Życie Literackie (Literary Life), where she continued to work until 1981 and from 1968 had a book review column, Lektury Nadobowiązkowe.
When asked why she had published so few poems, she said, "I have a trash can in my home". ==Pop culture== Szymborska's poem "Nothing Twice" was set to music by Andrzej Munkowski and performed by Łucja Prus in 1965.
Although she did not officially leave the Communist party until 1966, she began to establish contacts with dissidents.
In 1964, she opposed a Communist-backed protest to The Times against independent intellectuals, demanding freedom of speech instead. In 1953, Szymborska joined the staff of the literary review magazine Życie Literackie (Literary Life), where she continued to work until 1981 and from 1968 had a book review column, Lektury Nadobowiązkowe.
In the 1980s, she intensified her oppositional activities, contributing to the samizdat periodical Arka under the pseudonym "Stańczykówna", as well as to Kultura.
In 1964, she opposed a Communist-backed protest to The Times against independent intellectuals, demanding freedom of speech instead. In 1953, Szymborska joined the staff of the literary review magazine Życie Literackie (Literary Life), where she continued to work until 1981 and from 1968 had a book review column, Lektury Nadobowiązkowe.
From 1981 to 1983, she was an editor of the Kraków-based monthly periodical NaGlos (OutLoud).
From 1981 to 1983, she was an editor of the Kraków-based monthly periodical NaGlos (OutLoud).
They remained close until Włodek's death in 1986.
In the early 1990s, with a poem published in Gazeta Wyborcza, she supported the vote of no confidence in the first non-Communist government that brought former Communists back to power.
Rock singer Kora's cover of "Nothing Twice" was a hit in 1994. The poem "Love at First Sight" was used in the film Turn Left, Turn Right, starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Gigi Leung.
Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature.
In Poland, Szymborska's books have reached sales rivaling prominent prose authors', though she wrote in a poem, "Some Like Poetry" ("Niektórzy lubią poezję"), that "perhaps" two in a thousand people like poetry. Szymborska was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature "for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality".
The last collection published while Szymborska was still alive, Dwukropek, was chosen as the best book of 2006 by readers of Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza.
Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature.
After Zamoyski's death in 1924, her family moved to Toruń, and in 1931 to Kraków, where she lived and worked until her death in early 2012. When World War II broke out in 1939, she continued her education in underground classes.
In Germany, Szymborska is closely associated with her translator Karl Dedecius, who did much to popularize her works there. ==Death and last works== Surrounded by friends and relatives, Szymborska died peacefully of lung cancer in her sleep at home in Kraków in 2012, aged 88.
Her last poetry was published later in 2012.
In 2013, the Wisława Szymborska Award was established in honour of her legacy. ==Themes== Szymborska frequently employed literary devices such as ironic precision, paradox, contradiction, and understatement to illuminate philosophical themes and obsessions.
Krzysztof Kieślowski's film Red was also inspired by "Love at First Sight". In her last years, Szymborska collaborated with Polish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stańko, who dedicated his record Wisława (ECM, 2013) to her memory, taking inspiration from their collaboration and her poetry. Szymborska's poem "People on the Bridge" was made into a film by Beata Pozniak.
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