Web of Stories - Life Stories of Remarkable People | Adam Zagajewski - The sense of seclusion in Berlin (30/50) @webofstories | Uploaded April 2019 | Updated October 2024, 7 hours ago.
To listen to more of Adam Zagajewski’s stories, go to the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzyCHpawMfzZc5HzhP38Qz7
Adam Zagajewski (1945-2021) was a Polish poet, novelist, translator and essayist. He is considered as one of the leading poets of the Generation of '68 or the Polish New Wave (Polish: Nowa fala) and is one of Poland's most prominent contemporary poets. [Listener: Andrzej Wolski; date recorded: 2018]
TRANSCRIPT: It was a grant for one year. I stayed in Berlin for two years, in fact I was there for a little more than two years. I can recall those first weeks in Berlin perfectly and how I suffered hugely because I missed that environment of the opposition with which I identified through friendships and a sense of belonging. This may seem funny, but I've mentioned this before that I heard voices that were specific to my friends. I missed those voices. Suddenly, everyone was talking German in Berlin. For instance, Jacek Woźniakowski, who was a very eminent Catholic intellectual associated with 'Tygodnik Powszechny' and who was unique in his opinions. Suddenly, I found myself in Berlin where I missed voices like his. Jan Błoński, who was an eminent literary critic and who had very distinct views; I missed his voice, too. Suddenly, all of 'my' voices were back in Poland, in Kraków. I miss Adam Michnik, of course, with his stammer... I miss his stammer in Berlin. But this didn't last long and after a while, I came to terms with my situation and I think my time in Berlin did me good because I learned what it was to live isolated from that main Polish trend which I'd needed for my writing. It wasn't for my own sense of well-being, but I needed to ground my writing not in the proximity of others but in this type of seclusion. I think that in general, writing comes not necessarily from isolation but from a certain kind of seclusion.
To listen to more of Adam Zagajewski’s stories, go to the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzyCHpawMfzZc5HzhP38Qz7
Adam Zagajewski (1945-2021) was a Polish poet, novelist, translator and essayist. He is considered as one of the leading poets of the Generation of '68 or the Polish New Wave (Polish: Nowa fala) and is one of Poland's most prominent contemporary poets. [Listener: Andrzej Wolski; date recorded: 2018]
TRANSCRIPT: It was a grant for one year. I stayed in Berlin for two years, in fact I was there for a little more than two years. I can recall those first weeks in Berlin perfectly and how I suffered hugely because I missed that environment of the opposition with which I identified through friendships and a sense of belonging. This may seem funny, but I've mentioned this before that I heard voices that were specific to my friends. I missed those voices. Suddenly, everyone was talking German in Berlin. For instance, Jacek Woźniakowski, who was a very eminent Catholic intellectual associated with 'Tygodnik Powszechny' and who was unique in his opinions. Suddenly, I found myself in Berlin where I missed voices like his. Jan Błoński, who was an eminent literary critic and who had very distinct views; I missed his voice, too. Suddenly, all of 'my' voices were back in Poland, in Kraków. I miss Adam Michnik, of course, with his stammer... I miss his stammer in Berlin. But this didn't last long and after a while, I came to terms with my situation and I think my time in Berlin did me good because I learned what it was to live isolated from that main Polish trend which I'd needed for my writing. It wasn't for my own sense of well-being, but I needed to ground my writing not in the proximity of others but in this type of seclusion. I think that in general, writing comes not necessarily from isolation but from a certain kind of seclusion.
