Z ducha Orfeusza. Studia o polskiej poezji lat 2010-2016

Abstract

The present volume brings together studies of the Polish poetry written from 2010 to 2016. The period under consideration, i.e. seven years, was chosen deliberately as the book includes texts dedicated to the laureates of The Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Poetry Prize ORPHEUS, awarded annually for the best volume of poetry. The award honours the best volume published in Poland and the best volume published in northeastern Poland (the so-called Masurian ORPHEUS). In 2016, a special posthumous ORPHEUS was given to Feliks Netz. The prize is awarded by the Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Museum in Pranie; its originator and secretary is the Director of the Museum, Wojciech Kass, assisted by Jagienka Kass. As we read on the prize’s official website:

„The Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Poetry Prize ORPHEUS for the best volume of poetry was established with the intention of filling a vast lacuna in the landscape of national literary institutions. Its unique status is further emphasized by the literary achievement of its patron, Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, the author of „The Ball at Solomon’s” and „Isolde’s Earrings, in whose oeuvre references to the myth of Orpheus abound. In 1941, while in the Altengrabow camp, Gałczyński was planning to write a play entitled Orpheus. Although he never completed the project, his camp notebooks contain some preliminary ideas and reflections on the ancient musician and poet. Ten years later, in a forester’s house called Pranie, in the Masurian Lake District, he wrote a libretto for Jacques Offenbach’s opera bouffe Orpheus in the Underworld.

The idea for the prize was also conceived in Pranie, i.e. in the place where Gałczyński wrote „Olsztyn’s Chronicle”, „Niobe”, and „Songs”. For years the forester’s house has been a venue for poetical and cultural events of various kinds: exhibitions, book presentations, concerts, and meetings with authors. Consequently, it has gradually evolved into one of the most important regional, if not national, cultural centres.

The prize was officially established in 2011 (with its first edition organized in 2012) by Wojciech Kass, the Director of the Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Museum in Pranie, to honour notable achievements in Polish lyric poetry. It is given to authors alive, who wrote and published their volumes of poetry in the Polish language, in the preceding year.”

Financial support and media coverage for the prize is provided by numerous institutions: the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the bi-monthly literary journal Topos, Polish P.E.N., the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Local Government, the County Starosty in Pisz, the Authors’ Society ZAiKS, TVP Culture, Polish Radio, the daily Gazeta Olsztyńska, and the local authorities in Ruciane-Nida. Since 2016 Professor Jarosław Ławski (the University of Białystok) has been the President of the Jury, the members of which have included: Ewa Lipska, Wojciech Ligęza, Bronisław Maj, Antoni Libera, Tomasz Burek, Jan Stolarczyk, Wojciech Kudyba, Feliks Netz, and Krzysztof Kuczkowski, and others.

The present volume brings together studies dedicated to the laureates of both Polish and regional ORPHEUSES. Each laureate’s accomplishment is the subject matter of two critical texts, written by researchers in Polish literature, critics or essayists. The analytical part of the book is preceded by a short introduction, which highlights the main idea behind the prize. The second part includes the prize statute, proceedings of the Jury, biographical notes, and photographs from the ceremonies, which take place annually in June or July, in the Museum in Pranie.

Besides, the volume brings original biographical materials dedicated to the life and oeuvre of Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (1905-1953), who from 1950 to 1953 would frequently come to the forester’s house in Pranie. All the texts were edited by Wojciech Kass, the Director of the Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Museum in Pranie, and Professor Jarosław Ławski, Head of the Chair in Philological Studies „East-West, the University of Białystok.

The volume In the Spirit of Orpheus draws attention to the values traditionally associated with the ancient musician and poet: the cult of poetry and tradition, and the depth of knowledge that the poetic word enables. Above all else, however, it pays homage to the laureates of The Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Poetry Prize ORPHEUS.