Anna Świrszczyńska (also known as Anna Swir) (1909–1984) was a Polish poet whose works deal with themes including her experiences during World War II, motherhood, the female body, and sensuality.

Biography

Świrszczyńska was born in Warsaw and grew up in poverty as the daughter of an artist. She began publishing her poems in the 1930s. During the Nazi occupation of Poland she joined the

Polish resistance movement in World War II The Polish resistance movement in World War II (''Polski ruch oporu w czasie II wojny światowej''), with the Polish Home Army at its forefront, was the largest underground resistance movement in all of occupied Europe, covering both German a ...

and was a military nurse during the Warsaw Uprising. She wrote for underground publications and once waited 60 minutes to be executed. Czesław Miłosz writes of knowing her during this time and has translated a volume of her work. Her experiences during the war strongly influenced her poetry. In 1974 she published ''Building the Barricade'', a volume which describes the suffering she witnessed and experienced during that time. She also writes frankly about the female body in various stages of life. Some of Swir's poems are translated into

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

Suman Pokhrel Suman Pokhrel ( ne, सुमन पोखरेल; born on September 21, 1967) is a Nepali poet, lyricist, playwright, translator and artist. Universities in Nepal and India have included his poetry in their syllabus. Suman Pokhrel is the s ...

and are collected in an anthology tilled ''Manpareka Kehi Kavita''. Siddheshwar Singh, Manoj Patel and other translators have translated many of her poems into Hindi. Nine of Swir's poems were posthumously published by family, earlier translated in Dutch by Gerard Rasch, in his work ''Memento'' in 2005.

Hendrik Lindepuu Hendrik Lindepuu (born 11 November 1958 in Mõisaküla) is an Estonian translator, poet, and playwright. He has translated mainly from the Polish language. He has established its own publishing house: Hendrik Lindepuu Kirjastus. Since 2003 the p ...

translated a collection of poems by Świrszczyńska into Estonian and published it as a separate book: ''Anna Świrszczyńska. Ma ehitasin barrikaadi''. Halliste: Hendrik Lindepuu Kirjastus, 2019. 187 pages. . The Spanish composer Luis de Pablo premiered in 2019 the ''Cantata femenina Anna Swir'' (''Female Cantata Anna Swir''), based on several poems by this author.

Tomas Marco Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...

: otes to the program

Community of Madrid Orchestra The Community of Madrid Orchestra ( es, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid), founded in 1987, is a symphony orchestra in Madrid, Spain. It is the resident orchestra at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid and performs its concert programs at the Aud ...

, February 13, 2019.

Works

Poetry collections

* ''Wiersze i proza'' (''Poems and Prose'') (1936) * ''Liryki zebrane'' (''Collected Poems'') (1958) * ''Czarne słowa'' (''Black Words'') (1967) * ''Wiatr'' (''Wind'') (1970) * ''Jestem baba'' (''I am a Woman'') (1972) * ''Poezje wybrane'' (''Selected Poems'') (1973) * ''Budowałam barykadę'' (''Building the Barricade'') (1974) * ''Szczęśliwa jak psi ogon'' (''Happy as a Dog's Tail'') (1978) * ''Cierpienie i radość'' (''Suffering and Joy'') (1985)

Collections in English translation

* ''Thirty-four Poems on the Warsaw Uprising'' (1977), New York. Transl.: Magnus Jan Kryński, Robert A. Maguire. * ''Building the Barricade'' (1979), Kraków. Transl.: Magnus Jan Kryński, Robert A. Maguire. * ''Happy as a Dog's Tail'' (1985), San Diego. Transl.: Czesław Miłosz &

Leonard Nathan Leonard E. Nathan, (November 8Professor and Poet ‘Loved To Play With the Langu ...

. * ''Fat Like the Sun'' (1986), London. Transl.: M. Marshment, G. Baran. * ''Talking to My Body'' ( Copper Canyon Press, 1996) Transl.: Czesław Miłosz &

Leonard Nathan Leonard E. Nathan, (November 8Professor and Poet ‘Loved To Play With the Langu ...

. * ''Building the Barricade and Other Poems of Anna Swir'' Tr. by Piotr Florczyk
Calypso Editions
2011).

References

External links

* https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/anna-swir {{DEFAULTSORT:Swirszczynska, Anna 1909 births 1984 deaths Polish resistance members of World War II Warsaw Uprising insurgents Polish female soldiers 20th-century Polish poets Polish women writers 20th-century women writers World War II poets 20th-century Polish women Polish women in World War II resistance