The Polish Review, Special Issue: Czesław Miłosz, Our Contemporary

Even before winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980, Czesław Miłosz had established himself as Poland’s leading poet and one of the leading poets in the world. He was also an accomplished translator, novelist, and essayist who taught Slavic literature for many years.

This special issue of The Polish Review offers a multifaceted collection of articles that examine Miłosz’s works and life. Contributors range from Miłosz’s poetic craft and the philosophical underpinnings of his worldview to his goals for poetry and art, how he used imagery in his works, and the celebrated musicality of his verse. Topics include Miłosz’s concept of “objective poetry” in the collection A Book of Luminous Things; the construction of the poems “Pory roku” [Seasons] and “Późna starość” [Late old age]; Miłosz’s fascination with Manichaean and Gnostic ideas and Darwin and Hegel’s influence on his thought; Miłosz’s treatment of animals in both his prose and poetry; and the inspiration for the ode “My Homeland, Europe” and possible reasons Miłosz left it unpublished in his lifetime.

Contributors: Mateusz Antoniuk, Paweł Bem, Anna Bergiel, Gerard T. Kapolka, Zbigniew Kaźmierczyk, Michał Paweł Markowski, Łukasz Tischner and Zuzanna Szatanik