TADEUSZ RÓŻEWICZ: MUM, DAD, I’M A POET

Evening gala to celebrate one of the most eminent living Polish writers as part of the London Literature Festival (Saturday 25 May 2013, 7.45pm, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre)

One of the great European poets of the twentieth century. Seamus Heaney

The last living truly great Polish poet. James Hopkin, The Guardian

The event celebrates the British publication of Tadeusz Różewicz's masterpiece Mother Departs with readings, music and film by actors, poets, critics and friends.

Różewicz is undoubtedly the most celebrated living Polish author, and according to Tom Paulin the great 'anti-poet' who has succeeded in writing poetry after Auschwitz. His Mother Departs is a unique mix of prose and poetry, of the joy of life and the agony of loss, creating a rich and complex portrait of his mother Stefania. Weaving together fragments from diaries, stories and notebooks – including moving texts written by his two brothers and Stefania herself – Różewicz creates a portrait of their lives and relationships which is sometimes brutal, often hilarious, and always tender.

The evening features the performances from the acclaimed poets George Szirtes and Tom Paulin, singing maven Katy Carr, legendary actor Jan Peszek and his daughter, notorious actress/singer Maria Peszek. The evening is chaired by writer, editor and educator Sophie Mayer.

Tadeusz Różewicz (b. 1921) is Poland's foremost living writer. Remarkable for his simultaneous mastery of poetry, prose and drama, he has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Tadeusz Różewicz has been translated into over forty languages. The most recent English-language volumes, recycling (2001), New Poems (2007) and Sobbing Superpower (2011), were finalists for the 2003 Popescu Prize (UK), the 2008 National Book Critics Award (USA) and the 2012 Griffin Prize (Canada) respectively. In 2007 he was awarded the European Prize for Literature.

Mother Departs (original title Matka odchodzi, 1999; English edition translated by Barbara Bogoczek and published by Stork Press), exploring the life of his mother Stefania, is perhaps his most personal work. It won the Nike Prize in 2000, Poland's most prestigious literary award.

Organised by Southbank Centre as part of the London Literature Festival in association with the Polish Cultural Institute in London and Stork Press.

-ENDS-

EVENT DETAILS:

Saturday, 25 May 2013, 7.45 pm

Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE8 1XX

Tickets: £10, £5 concessions

Ticket Office: 0844 875 0073

Book online: www.southbankcentre.co.uk  

Tube: Waterloo

Press contact: Karolina Kolodziej, Head of Public Relations, Polish Cultural Institute in London, Ten adres pocztowy jest chroniony przed spamowaniem. Aby go zobaczyć, konieczne jest włączenie w przeglądarce obsługi JavaScript., T: 0203 206 2004

Polish Cultural Institute (www.polishculture.org.uk) is a part of the Polish diplomatic mission in the UK, with the aim of promoting and fostering a deeper understanding of Polish culture throughout the country. With offices based in Soho, the heart of creative London, the PCI devises programmes of cultural events across the genres of visual arts, film, dance, theatre, music, and literature, in collaboration with the most established and cutting edge British cultural organizations and individuals.

Tiwtter: @PLInst_London

Facebook: www.facebook.com/polishinstitutelondon 

Vimeo: vimeo.com/polishculture

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