Literatura na Świecie

The monthly magazine was created in 1971. It presents the most vital happenings in world literatures, from the classics to the avant-garde. Alongside the translations are critical essays, discussions, self-critiques and discussions on the art of translation. There are also new translations of the canon (Proust, Kafka, Flaubert).

The first editor-in-chief was Wacław Kubacki. Beginning with 10/1972, Wacław Sadkowski took charge. With the change in format from large to ‘pocket size’, the journal’s character became clearer. Instead of an almanac presenting various tendencies in contemporary world literature, it began to have issues devoted to a single writer (Joyce, Nabokov, Beckett, Cortázar, Brodsky, Barth, Kafka, Borges, Céline, Plath, Blixen, Henry Miller, Kundera, Havel) or presentations of a cultural sphere (Latin America, Québec, New York, the Maghreb, Sicily) or phenomenon (the erotic, inebriation, death, the Talmud, heresies, the French essay, Artificial Intelligence). The journal publishes translation criticism, as well as sketches in literary theory and comparative studies.

Since 1972, a jury headed by Jerzy Lisowski has given yearly awards for translations of poetry and prose. Back then, Literatura na Świecie had a print-run of 30–35,000 copies. The board of editors has included: Jarosław Anders, Maria Bielska-Zientarska, Lech Budrecki, Jacek St. Buras, Danuta Cirlić-Straszyńska, Leszek Engelking, Eugeniusz Kabatc, Anna Kołyszko, Zbigniew Lewicki, Mirosław Malcharek, Mikołaj Melanowicz, Jerzy Niecikowski, Aleksandra Olędzka-Frybesowa, Krystyna Rodowska, Barbara Surowska, Józef Waczków and Anna Wasilewska.

Since 1994, when Piotr Sommer became editor-in-chief, the journal has come out in a larger format. The present editor-in-chief is Marcin Szuster.

The Book Institute has been the publisher of this magazine since 2010.