26 October 2010 Sun, possibility, joy
On 5 November, a book Słońce, możliwość, radość (Sun, Possibility, Joy) by Michał Paweł Markowski – Artistic Director of the 2nd Joseph Conrad International Literature Festival will be published. This publication is another collection of essays of the author of Anatomia ciekawości (The Anatomy of Curiosity), for which he received the Kościelscy Award in 2000. Słońce, możliwość, radość consists of texts published in Tygodnik Powszechny. The private is mixed here with the public, and reflections on art, literature and photography are mixed here with a very personal narration.
In one of the essays Moja Ameryka (My America) we can read: “America taught me loneliness, because America is a big loneliness in itself, in the shadow of which the most important things, which cannot be uttered properly, happen wordlessly” (Tygodnik Powszechny, 29 August 2010, no. 35). The book begins from an autobiographical tale about reading and ends with the discovery of America. Although it is not a travel diary in its strict sense, it records the author’s travels, both those occurring in imagination, in writing and in reality, travels between childhood and adulthood and travels between Europe and America.
“Texts by Michał P. Markowski are a record of live thinking. As if no scheme or ready formula hindered thoughts in confrontation with the perception of the world. The breathtaking erudition does not weigh here more than a keen eye and an appetite for life. From books, tales, pictures, tastes and casual experiences Michał weaves an almost adventurous narration about life turning into existence. Adventurous essays – that is how I would call the genre being practised by the author in this book”, wrote Piotr Mucharski in Tygodnik Powszechny.
Each new book by Michał Paweł Markowski becomes quickly a great event in the world of the Polish humanities and is widely commented upon. His latest publication will be accompanied by a meeting during this year’s Conrad Festival. Already on 6 November (Saturday) at 6.00 p.m. Markowski will meet his readers in the Assembly Hall of the Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities of the Jagiellonian University (Krakow, ul. Grodzka 64). The meeting will be hosted by Grzegorz Jankowicz.
