Nobel Prize Winners for Literature

05/14/2012 09:28

 

Poland has a long history of world-class literature, though not as well known in the West. I think a lot of it has to do with the difficulty of the language; it only translates well in the hands of a very experienced professional. Don’t try this at home! Every now and then, though, Poles do get recognized on the world stage, including some pretty impressive winners of the Nobel Prize, starting in 1905 with Henryk Sienkiewicz. He wrote quite a few works, but is probably best known in the West for “Quo Vadis” which takes place in Rome in the early days of Christianity. In 1951, Hollywood made a blockbuster starring Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr and a little known lady by the name of Sofia Loren cast as an extra. 

Vladislav Remont then won the award in 1924 for his great work “Chłopi,” “The Peasants.” Czesław Miłosz, known for his prose but perhaps more so for his poetry, took it in 1980. Then, an absolutely wonderful woman from Kraków by the name of Wisława Szymborska won in the mid-1990s for her poetry. I met Miłosz one time at a reading. He signed a book for me between sips of very cold vodka (He didn't ask me if I wanted any). Also, my old girlfriend at the time went to his summer apartment in Kraków when she was doing her dissertation. She said that he was very cordial, but a little intimidating. Personally, I like his poetry, but haven’t read much of his prose. You might know of him from one of his most famous books, "The Captive Mind."

 Czesław Miłosz