The 6th World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature this July
Translators are the most important ambassadors of Polish literature abroad. Literature of small languages — as Polish is — could not break through internationally without their efforts. It is thanks to their love for this body of work and their persistent efforts to publish and promote it in their countries that authors from Poland enjoy success around the world. The World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature is therefore a way of honoring their work, as well as an opportunity to forge contacts and discover new voices in Polish literature. The Congress will enable participants to meet writers, literary critics, publishers, and translators from other countries. This year’s programme includes, among other events, book presentations, meetings with authors, panel discussions and lectures.
This year Kraków will host more than two hundred translators from several dozen countries — mostly from Europe, but also from North and South America and Asia — including Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Georgia, Spain, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, North Macedonia, Mongolia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the USA, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Italy. Kraków will welcome translators of works by Joanna Bator, Jacek Dukaj, Dorota Masłowska, Wiesław Myśliwski, Olga Tokarczuk, Wisława Szymborska, Czesław Miłosz, Andrzej Sapkowski and many other outstanding creators, and there will also be translators at the beginning of their translation careers.
This year’s edition of the Congress will also be an occasion to present the Transatlantyk Prize, which the Institute of Book awards annually to an outstanding ambassador of Polish literature in the world. The winner will be announced on 3 July. The gala will be graced by a performance from Mela Koteluk. To date the Transatlantyk Prize has been awarded, among others, to Anders Bodegård (Sweden), Albrecht Lempp (Germany), Biserka Rajčić (Serbia), Yi Lijun (China), Karol Lesman (the Netherlands), Bill Johnston (United States), Constantin Geambaşu (Romania), Lajos Pálfalvi (Hungary), Antonia Lloyd-Jones (United Kingdom), Hendrik Lindepuu (Estonia), Hatif Janabi (Iraq), Vera Verdiani (Italy), Abel Murcia and Xavier Farré (Spain).
The World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature is held every four years. The first edition was organised in 2005, when the Transatlantyk Prize was also inaugurated — it was awarded to Henryk Bereska, a translator of Polish literature into German originally from Silesia. The most recent edition of the World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature took place in 2022.
The 6th World Congress of Translators of Polish Literature is co-funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.