Photos courtesy of Rafał Siderski
“What have I learned about the world? I’ve learned the world can be good.”
In an unusual poetic journey, the Polish poet Małgorzata Lebda set out to run the entire length of the Wisła river, which spans over six hundred miles and ends at the Baltic Sea. This experience resulted in her collection Mer de Glace, which was awarded the Wisława Szymborska poetry prize. Six poems from that collection are included here. We also present an excerpt from Lebda’s essayistic account of her expedition, first published in Polish in the magazine Pismo. Lebda’s work is translated by the prize-winning author Mira Rosenthal. During her journey Lebda was reminded that—as the Polish Nobel Laureate Czesław Miłosz had before her written during hard times—“the world can be good.” During Lebda’s poetic running: “Reality placed people and landscapes along my route that gave me strength.”
—Ellen Hinsey
Personal History: The Circles on the Water Are Expanding, Expanding
This is the eleventh installment in our “Literature and Democracy” series. This quarterly column, curated by NER international correspondent Ellen Hinsey, presents writers’ responses to the threats to democracy around the world, beginning with a focus on Eastern Europe.