Julia Hartwig

Summary

Julia Hartwig-Międzyrzecka (14 August 1921 – 14 July 2017) was a Polish writer, poet and translator, considered to be one of Poland's most important poets.[1][2][3]

Julia Hartwig
Hartwig in 2009
Born(1921-08-14)14 August 1921
Died14 July 2017(2017-07-14) (aged 95)
Occupation(s)Poet, translator

Life and career edit

She was born and raised in Lublin. She studied Polish and French literature at Warsaw University and continued her studies at the Catholic University of Lublin.[4] Her first poems appeared in the journal Odrodzenie in 1944. Hartwig lived in Paris from 1947-50. In 1954, she published Z niedalekich podróży (From Nearby Places), a collection of articles. She published her first collection of poetry Pożegnania (Farewells) in 1956.[1]

She lived in the United States from 1970 to 1974, later returning to Warsaw.[4] During her time in America, Hartwig took part in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa and also taught at several universities.[5]

She published translations of French poetry by Guillaume Apollinaire, Blaise Cendrars, Max Jacob, Henri Michaux, and Pierre Reverdy and wrote books on Apollinaire and Gérard de Nerval.[6] She also published translations of American poets such as Robert Bly and Marianne Moore.[1] Hartwig's poetry has been translated into English, French, Italian, Russian, Lithuanian, Serbian, Greek and German.[5]

External videos
 
  Born at the meeting point of diagonals, Julia Hartwig, poet, Web of Stories

Hartwig was awarded the Jurzykowski Prize, the Thornton Wilder Prize from Columbia University's Translation Center and the Georg Trakl Poetry Prize.[6] She received six nominations for the prestigious Nike Award. She is the winner of the 2014 Wisława Szymborska Award for her book of poetry Zapisane.[7]

Personal life edit

In 1954,[8] Hartwig married the poet and activist Artur Międzyrzecki [pl]. They had one daughter, Daniela, with whom they left for the US in 1971. Artur Międzyrzecki died in 1996 in Warsaw.[3][4] Julia Hartwig died on 14 July 2017 in Pennsylvania at the age of 95.[9]

Her brothers were prominent photographer Edward Hartwig and medical doctor and endocrynologist Walenty Hartwig.

Julia Hartwig is survived by her only daughter, Danielle Lehtinen, educator and artist, whom she often visited in New York City and in Pennsylvania.

Selected works edit

Sources.[1][6]

  • Wolne ręce (Free hands), poetry (1969)
  • Wielki pościg (The big race), children's book (1969)
  • Dwoistość (Duality), poetry (1971)
  • Czuwanie (Vigilance), poetry (1978)
  • Chwila postoju (A moment of rest), poetry (1980)
  • Obcowanie (Communion), poetry (1987)
  • Czułość (Tenderness), poetry (1992)
  • Bez pozegnania (No Farewells) (2004), nominated for a Nike Award[10]

Bibliography edit

  • Polish bibliography 1988–2001

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Segel, Harold B. (2003). The Columbia Guide to the Literatures of Eastern Europe Since 1945. Columbia University Press. p. 207. ISBN 0231114044.
  2. ^ "Julia Hartwig". culture.pl (in Polish). Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
  3. ^ a b "Contemporary Authors Online". Biography in Context. Gale. 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Miller, Jane Eldridge (2001). Who's who in Contemporary Women's Writing. Psychology Press. p. 136. ISBN 0415159806.
  5. ^ a b Carpenter, Bogdana (May 2008). "Julia Hartwig's in Praise of the Unfinished translated by John and Bogdana Carpenter" (PDF). Slavic Scene. 16 (1): 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2015.
  6. ^ a b c Grol, Regina (1996). Ambers aglow: an anthology of Polish women's poetry (1981–1995). Host Publications. p. 432. ISBN 0924047151.
  7. ^ "Hartwig Wins Poetry Prize". Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Happy 90th birthday, Julia Hartwig! Poland's late-blooming poet is still in glorious flower". The Book Haven. Stanford University. 3 August 2011.
  9. ^ "Julia Hartwig nie żyje. Odeszła jedna z najwybitniejszych polskich poetek". gazetapl (in Polish). Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Julia Hartwig profile". culture.pl. Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

External links edit

  • Cynthia L. Haven, “Invisible You Reign Over the Visible”: Julia Hartwig’s Reality Mysticism",World Literature Today article from 2011, republished in Milena Jesenská blog.
  • Kannada translations of 5 Julia Hartwig poems by S. Jayasrinivasa Rao at https://avadhimag.in