Halina Poświatowska (;

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Halina Myga, entered into church records as Helena Myga;by the baptizing local diocese priest, over the objections of her family born 9 May 193511 October 1967) was a Polish poet and writer. Poświatowska is famous for her lyrical poetry, and for her intellectual, passionate yet unsentimental poetry on the themes of death, love, existence, famous historical personages, especially women, as well as her mordant treatment of life, living, being, bees, cats and the sensual qualities of loving, grieving and desiring.

Biography

Her first heart operation was performed in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, in 1958, her sea passage on the Polish

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

'' MS Batory'', the costs of her stay, and the procedure itself, funded by monies gathered in collection by Polish-Americans, and was successful enough to enable her to live for nine more years. Instead of returning to Poland afterward, she enrolled at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...

, where she completed her undergraduate studies in 3 years, commencing with no command of the English language whatsoever. Then, turning down an offer of graduate admission with full financial support, extended to her by the faculty of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

's Department of Philosophy, she returned to Poland, where she matriculated in Philosophy at the Jagellonian University,

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, and died before continuing on to complete the doctorate, as a 4th year student. She died at 32 after a second heart operation, this time, performed in Poland, to correct an acquired chronic heart defect that limited her mobility and breathing, which befell her due to chronic chill as a 9-year-old child during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

German occupation of Poland.

Works

* ''Hymn bałwochwalczy'' (1958) * ''Opowieść dla przyjaciela'' (1967, prose) * "Tańcząca Nina" . 19 in ''Wiersze wybrane'', Jan Zych, ed.* "***('my nie wierzymy w piekło...')" 2* "***('Jestem Julią...') 5* ***('codziennie')" 52* "W przestrzeni i czasie" 00* "***('Kiedy Izolda umierała...')" 22* ''Bajka o sówce, która w dzień spać lubiła'' (a 10-page poem fable in strict

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

)

Literary heritage

Her works have been collected in the four-volume ''Dzieła'' (Works), published by Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków, Poland, 1997, of which the first two volumes (several hundred pages) are poems, and the latter two prose and letters, respectively. She is the subject of several scholarly books and many reprints. Her popularity as a poet continues unabated in Poland, and new translations have increased her importance to world literature. If her own poem content, as well as her own poetry translations are any indication, she was influenced by

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. An author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and ...

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the Poetic realism, poetic ...

, and a bevy of Slovene poets: Kajetan Kovič, Jože Udovič, Saša Vegri,

Dane Zajc Dane Zajc () (26 October 1929 – 20 October 2005) was a Slovenian poet and playwright. He served as president of the Slovene Writers' Association (1991–1995), and was awarded the prestigious Prešeren Award for lifetime achievement (1981). T ...

, as well as the classical Greek philosopher

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

, bees, cats, the color red, the texture of fur,

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's antiquity collections, and her contemporary Black American (

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

) city culture – in particular, the people of New York City, in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

Notable translations (ad hoc collections)

Books and journals

* * ''Ey zendegi tarkam koni mimiram. Gozine-ye ash'ar = Życie, umrę jeśli odejdziesz. Wybór wierszy'', rans. into the Persian Alireza Doulatshahi, Ivonna Nowicka. Baal Publications, Tehran-Iran 2010, 93 p. * ''Indeed I love...'', selected and transl. into the English by Maya Peretz, afterword by Anna Nasiłowska. Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 1998, 2005, 233 pp. * ''Mon ombre est une femme'', poèmes trad. du pol. par Isabelle Macor-Filarska et Grzegorz Splawinski. Éditions Caractères, Paris 2004, 100 p. * ''Racconto per un amico'', trad. dal pol. di Vera Verdiani. Neri Pozza Editore, Vicenza dr. 2001, 175 p. * ''Oiseau de mon coeur...'', choix et traduction Isabelle Macor-Filarska, Grzegorz Spławiński, postface Izolda Kiec. Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 1998, 163 p. * ''Ošče edin spomen : poezija, proza, prev. ot pol''. Zdravko Kis'ov, Blagovesta Lingorska. Karina M., Sofija 1997, 253 p.

Unpublished/Internet

References

* Grażyna Borkowska, ''Nierozważna i nieromantyczna. O Halinie Poświatowskiej'' 'Reckless and Unromantic. On Halina Poświatowska''

: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2001, first edition, paperback, pp. 204, . * Kalina Błażejowska, ''Uparte serce'' 'A Stubborn Heart'' Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak, 2014, first edition, hardback, 338 pp,

Notes

External links

Comprehensive site that includes her original poetry, bio, indexes, photographs

* An essay introducing a scholarly book on Poświatowska's poetry by Grażyna Borkowska, ''Nierozważna i nieromantyczna. O Halinie Poświatowskiej'' 'Reckless and Unromantic. On Halina Poświatowska''(2014-04-30) *

Halina Poświatowska
collected works (Polish)
Halina Poświatowska
biography (Polish) * An interview with the biographer introducing a scholarly biography of Poświatowska by Kalina Błażejowska, ''Uparte serce'' 'A Stubborn Heart''(2014-06-27) *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poswiatowska, Halina 1935 births 1967 deaths Smith College alumni Polish women poets 20th-century Polish women writers 20th-century Polish poets People from Częstochowa