The Miłosz Festival is a time when Krakow enjoys and celebrates poetry. It’s the largest such festival in Poland. The history of the festival dates back to 1997, when Czesław Miłosz and Wisława Szymborska became the honorary patrons of the Krakow Meeting of Poets of East and West. In 2009, five years after the death of the Nobel Prize winner, it was decided to organise a festival that would bear Miłosz’s name and be inspired by his work. Responsible for preparing the festival was initially the Polish Book Institute, however now it is jointly organised by the Krakow Festival Office and the Foundation City of Literature. The festival, originally held every two years, is organised on annual basis as of 2015. The festival brings together translators, literary critics, researchers, and the greatest poets from different countries and generations. Among them, there is no shortage of those who have been honoured with the highest awards, including the Nobel Prize in literature.
During the festival poetry readings, debates, film screenings, concerts and exhibitions, meetings with translators, and events for children are held. The guiding theme of the 2015 edition was ”The Book of Luminous Things”” The most important figures of the world of poetry came for four days to Krakow to read poetry, discuss and exchange thoughts. In the 40 events that took place, over 4000 participants, 50 Polish and 20 foreign guests, communicating in a total of 7 languages, came together. The collections use the Miłosz typeface by Damien Collot, winner of the Czesław Miłosz 2011 International Typographic Design Competition.
The participants of the festival had the opportunity to meet with Yuri Andrukhovych, Anthony Miłosz, Xavier Farré, Robert Hass, Marie Lundquist, Valzhyna Mort, Alice Oswald, Ruth Padel, Kornelijus Platelis, Ales’ Razanau, Charles Simic and Uroš Zupan. Among the Polish guests were Wojciech Bonowicz, Wioletta Grzegorzewska, Dariusz Sośnicki and Julia Fiedorczuk.
See more at: www.miloszfestival.pl