CHICAGO REVIEW is pleased to announce
the publication of
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NEW POLISH WRITING
CHICAGO REVIEW 46:3&4
(FALL 2000)
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POLAND HAS ARGUABLY THE MOST exciting and diverse literary scene in
the new Europe, and this special issue of CHICAGO REVIEW provides the
first panoramic portrait in English translation of this dynamic
literary culture. This 400-page anthology, which is the first and
most comprehensive survey in English of Polish writing since the end
of Communist rule, includes material from several generations of
authors in a range of genres. Poems, stories, novel excerpts,
feuilletons, reportage, criticism, and polemicism by more than
seventy-five writers are translated in this issue. The issue includes
writers who already have followings among English-language readers,
as well as other, less-exposed writers of the older and middle
generations, and younger writers who have never or rarely before
appeared in English translation (including the poetry and rowdy
polemicism of the so-called "[Frank] O'Haraists").
To help the reader navigate the diverse terrain mapped in these
pages, this issue includes two extensive interviews, one with the
American translator Clare Cavanagh, and one with the Polish poet and
translator Piotr Sommer. Also included are critical essays by a
number of prominent older and younger Polish critics, like Jerzy
Jarzebski and Piotr Sliwinski. These essays serve not only to place
the writers presented here in the much wider contexts of Polish
literature and culture, but themselves demonstrate the richness of
Polish critical discourse.
This issue provides an indispensable introduction to a lively
literary culture, and promises to influence the reception of Polish
writing in English translation for some years to come.
If you don't find CHICAGO REVIEW at your local bookshop, you may wish
to consider ordering copies directly for $8.00 (plus shipping). Visit
our website for a preview of the contents, and for more information
on how to subscribe or order copies.
http//humanities.uchicago.edu/review
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CHICAGO REVIEW was founded in 1946 at the University of Chicago. In
its 54-year history it has produced several special issues of foreign
literature in translation, including <The International Anthology of
Concretism> (1967), <Contemporary German Literature> (1978),
<Contemporary Indian Literatures> (1992), <A Pacific Rim Reader>
(1993). It has become an important venue for contemporary American
writing as well, publishing issues on <Contemporary Poetry & Poetics>
(1997), and several general issues that demonstrate a "commitment to
diversity, along with an editorial insistence on provocative,
engaging writing, [that] distinguishes it from many other literary
publications in circulation today" (<Literary Magazine Review>).
