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Anna Świrszczyńska (1909-1984) was a Polish poet whose works deal with a variety of themes, including her experiences during World War II, motherhood, the female body, and sensuality. She was born in Warsaw and grew up as the poor 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 and was a military nurse during the Warsaw Uprising. She also 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 (see citation below). Her experiences during the war influenced her poetry a great deal. In 1974 she published Building the Barricade, a volume of work which describes the pain and suffering she witnessed and experienced during that time. She also writes frankly about the female body in various stages of life.[1]
[edit] List of Works (Volumes of Poetry)
- 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)
[edit] English Translations
- 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 i Leonard Nathan.
- Fat Like the Sun (1986), London. Transl.: M. Marshment, G. Baran.
- Talking to My Body (Copper Canyon Press, 1996) Transl.: Czesław Miłosz i Leonard Nathan.
[edit] References
[edit] Literature
- Miłosz Czesław – Jakiegoż to gościa mieliśmy : o Annie Świrszczyńskiej (1996), Kraków "Znak"
- Ingbrant Renata -- From Her Point of View: Woman’s Anti-world in the Poetry of Anna Świrszczyńska (2007), Stockholm: Stockholm University "Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis"
- Stawowy Renata – Gdzie jestem ja sama : o poezji Anny Świrszczyńskiej (2004), Kraków "Universitas"
