Bronisław Maj (born 19 November 1953) is a Polish poet, essayist, translator and academic.

Biography

Maj attended Jan Kasprowicz High School in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

. He later graduated in

Polish philology Polish studies, or Polonistics ( pl, filologia polska, or ''polonistyka'') is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates the Polish language and Polish literature in both historic and present-day forms. In the United State ...

from the Jagiellonian University in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and there he obtained his Ph.D. in the humanities. He published his debut poem in 1970 and debut poetry book in 1980. In 1984 he received the Kościelski Award for the poetry book ''Wspólne powietrze'' (''The Common Air''). In his poems Maj often focuses on the metaphysical topics, though he avoids writing classical religious poetry. Maj is also a stage performer. He created and performed several times as a character called Pani Lola (Mrs Lola). He has written the lyrics for several songs by

Grzegorz Turnau Grzegorz Jerzy Turnau (born 31 July 1967) is a Polish composer, pianist, poet and singer. He has released eleven albums to date, including one (Cafe Sułtan) made up of his own versions of songs by Jeremi Przybora and Jerzy Wasowski, and most h ...

. Currently he lives and works in Kraków. He works as a lecturer at the Jagiellonian University.

Works (selection)

Poetry

* ''Wiersze'' (''Poems'', 1980) * ''Taka wolność. Wiersze z lat 1971–1975'' (''Such Freedom. Poems from the years 1971–1975'', 1981) * ''Wspólne powietrze'' (''The Common Air'',

Wydawnictwo Literackie Wydawnictwo Literackie (abbreviated WL, lit. "Literary Press") is a Kraków-based Polish publishing house, which has been referred to as one of Poland's "most respected". Company history Since its foundation in 1953, Wydawnictwo Literackie has ...

, 1981) – The Kościelski Award in 1984 * ''Album rodzinny'' (''The Family Album'', Oficyna Literacka, 1986) * ''Zagłada Świętego Miasta'' (''The Destruction of the Holy City'', London, 1986) * ''Zmęczenie'' (''The Fatigue'', Znak, 1986) * ''Światło'' (''The Light'', Znak, 1994) * ''Elegie, treny, sny'' (''Elegies, laments, dreams'', Znak, 2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maj, Bronislaw Living people 1953 births Polish poets Polish essayists Male essayists Jagiellonian University alumni Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Entertainers from Łódź Polish male non-fiction writers