Professor Markowski in Chicago

Since mid-August Professor Michał Paweł Markowski has been running the newly created Stefan and Lucy Hejna Family Chair in Polish Language and Literature at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC). The founder of both the chair the professor will run and the Polish History Chair was the late Romuald Hejna, deceased two years ago, a Polish teacher abroad. His aim was to create a place in the United States for the study of Polish literature and history on a very advanced level.

Professor Markowski has been in close contact with American universities for years, having lectured at Harvard, Northwestern University in Chicago, and also Brown University in Providence (Rhode Island).

The ceremonial inauguration of the Polish Language and Literature Chair will take place on September 27th, and will be combined with the delivering of the Found in Translation Award 2010, awarded by the Book Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute in London and the Polish Cultural Institute in New York. This year the award for the best English-language translation will go to Danuta Borchardt for her rendering of "Pornografia" by Witold Gombrowicz (Grove Atlantic, USA).