Dec 10th - 12th After Schulz Festival - The Hejna Family Chair in the History of Poland and The Hejna Family Chair in Polish Language and Literature, The School of Literatures, Cultural Studies and Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, The Polish Book Institute, Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation, and Chopin Theatre, with support from Chicago YIVO Society (of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research) and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland invite you to celebrate with us the legacy of Bruno Schulz, Polish-Jewish modernist writer and graphic artist, and to explore the art and meaning of translation in a meeting of writers, translators, editors and historians from Poland, Germany and the US.
All events are open to the public.
buy tickets |
12/10/12 - 12/12/12
Various times
The Hejna Family Chair in the History of Poland and The Hejna Family Chair in Polish Language and Literature, The School of Literatures, Cultural Studies and Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, The Polish Book Institute, Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation, and Chopin Theatre, with support from Chicago YIVO Society (of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research) and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland invite you to celebrate with us the legacy of Bruno Schulz, Polish-Jewish modernist writer and graphic artist, and to explore the art and meaning of translation in a meeting of writers, translators, editors and historians from Poland, Germany and the US.
As 2012 draws to a close, we mark this double anniversary of Bruno Schulz’s birth and death (1892-1942) with the first public presentation of portions of the long-awaited new translation of Schulz’s prose work into English, by translator Madeline G. Levine.
Our 3-day program of events and readings focuses on the intersection of cultures and languages in the Galician region prior to World War II, that provided the specific context in which Schulz’s modernist vision took shape, and on the centrality of translation to the creation of culture and identity.
Participants include Michael Hofmann, poet and leading translator of German-language literature, including the works of Schulz’s Central European contemporaries Franz Kafka and Joseph Roth; historians Tarik Amar, specialist on Ukrainian-Polish-Jewish-German relations in the period leading up to World War II, and Michael Steinlauf, specialist in Polish-Jewish history and relations; and foremost Polish scholar of interwar Yiddish culture, Karolina Szymaniak. Krakow artist Ania Kaszuba-Dębska opens a new window on the context of Schulz’s work in an interactive installation on the women influential in his life, several of whom were leading contributors to the creation of modern Yiddish culture in Lwów/Lemberg. Karolina Szymaniak and Polish-Jewish writer Piotr Paziński, both editors of Jewish cultural journals in Poland today, will discuss the legacy of Poland’s multicultural heritage as it is being expressed in the revival of interest in Jewish culture within contemporary Poland today.
On Wednesday evening, join us for readings by contemporary Polish authors Marek Bieńczyk, Magdalena Tulli and Jacek Dehnel. In conversation with the authors and with English-language translators of their work, Bill Johnston and Benjamin Paloff, we explore the vitality of Polish literature today, and the centrality of translation to the development of cultures and of individual, hybrid identities.
Our hosts at Chopin Theatre invite you to continue the conversation over food and dancing on Wednesday evening, at a festival of food and music from the Galician region, starting at 8:00 pm. All events are free and open to the public, and will be be held at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, Illinois.
Conference Schedule
Monday, December 10th
4:15 pm Coffee & Light Refreshments
4:45 pm Welcoming Words: Michał Paweł Markowski, Stefan & LucyHejna Chair in Polish Language and
Literature, UIC. Paulina Kapuścińska, Consul General of the Republic of Poland Grzegorz Gauden,
Director, The Book Institute, Poland. Zygmunt Dyrkacz, Director, Chopin Theate
5:00 pm Opening Lecture: “Who Was Bruno Schulz?” Michał Paweł Markowski
5:45 pm Reception with Januszkiewicz Jazz Trio
6:45 pm Bruno Schulz: A New Translation 1st Public Reading Madeline G. Levine (Univ of North Carolina)
7:30 pm “Translation and the Meaning of Literature” A conversation with Madeline G. Levine & Michael
Hofmann (University of Florida) Moderator: Michał Paweł Markowski
8:45 pm Champagne & Dessert Toast - Honoring Bruno Schulz’s Anniversary Year
9:00 pm Screening “Sanatorium pod Klepsydrą” (Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass).
Director - Jerzy Has.
Tuesday, December 11th
4:00 pm Welcome & Coffee
4:30 pm Discussion: “The Galician Context of Schulz’s Work” Michael Steinlauf, Dept. of History, Gratz
College. “Galicia: Lost Land of Many Cultures” Tarik Amar, Dept. of History, Columbia University.
“The Making of Post-Galicia: Drohobych,1918 to 1945”Karolina Szymaniak, Yiddish Language &
Literature, Jagiellonian University, Krakow. “Yiddish Lemberg / Lwów : Debora Vogel, Rokhl
Auberbakh, and Rokhl Korn.” Moderator: Keely Stauter-Halsted, Dept. of History, UIC.
6:00 pm “The Stiletto Project” and “Księga: The Women of Bruno Schulz” Presentation of an interactive
multimedia art installation by Krakow artist Anna Kaszuba-Dębska.
7:30 pm Editors’ Talk: “The Legacy of Multiculturalism in Poland Today: Jewish Cultural Journals and their
Readership” Karolina Szymaniak, Editor, Cwiszn (Krakow, Warsaw). “Poland’s New Yiddishists”
Piotr Paziński, Editor, Midrasz (Warsaw). “Writing as Translation: Finding Jewish Voices in the
Polish Language” . Moderator: Karen Underhill, Dept. of Slavic & Baltic, UIC.
9:30 pm Screening “Street of Crocodiles” (1986) by Timothy & Stephen Quay
Wednesday, December 12th
4:00 pm Welcome & Coffee
4:30 pm “Contiguous Points: Polish Prose after Schulz” An exploration of contemporary Polish prose with
guest authors: Marek Bieńczyk, Jacek Dehnel, Magdalena Tulli Moderator: Grzegorz Jankowicz
(Krakow)
6:30 pm Authors’ & Translators’ Roundtable Discussion Authors : Marek Bieńczyk, Jacek Dehnel,
Magdalena Tulli Translators: Bill Johnston (Indiana University), Benjamin Paloff (University of
Michigan). Moderator: Grzegorz Jankowicz
7:30 pm Closing Celebration – "Galician Party"
Tags: Festival, Literary, New Europe, 2012