marek kazmierski
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FORMER TEACHER,
STRIPPER, LIBRARIAN
AND DOOR-TO-DOOR
PERFUME SALESMAN
MAREK RECENTLY
QUIT HIS JOB IN
CULTURAL AFFAIRS
AT A LONDON JAIL
TO WRITE, FILM AND
TRANSLATE MORE.
JOINT WINNER OF THE
PENGUIN DECIBEL PRIZE
FOR NON-FICTION
SOLE RECIPIENT OF
THE BIKE MAGAZINE
PHILOSOPHER OF
THE YEAR AWARD.
FOUNDER MEMBER
OF APART ARTS
AND EDITOR OF
OFF_PRESS
STRIPPER, LIBRARIAN
AND DOOR-TO-DOOR
PERFUME SALESMAN
MAREK RECENTLY
QUIT HIS JOB IN
CULTURAL AFFAIRS
AT A LONDON JAIL
TO WRITE, FILM AND
TRANSLATE MORE.
JOINT WINNER OF THE
PENGUIN DECIBEL PRIZE
FOR NON-FICTION
SOLE RECIPIENT OF
THE BIKE MAGAZINE
PHILOSOPHER OF
THE YEAR AWARD.
FOUNDER MEMBER
OF APART ARTS
AND EDITOR OF
OFF_PRESS
always under construction*
FOUNDER, EDITOR AND
TRANSLATOR HERE...
* THE ARTWORK
NEVER ENDS...
CONTACT:
marek@off-press.org
00 44 7 984 128 406
TRANSLATOR HERE...
* THE ARTWORK
NEVER ENDS...
CONTACT:
marek@off-press.org
00 44 7 984 128 406
Columns previously published by New Time / Nowy Czas, London
| Presentation given as part of the Polish Literature since 1989 conference, University College London, 2011 THE END OF THE OLD GUARD The collapse of the Polish Communist State in 1989 also meant the end of the ominously-named Main Bureau for Control of the Press, Publishing and Public Performance (Główny Urząd Kontroli Prasy, Publikacji i Widowisk). However, poetry publishing, though suddenly freed from the censor‘s scissors, had to now contend with new and hitherto unknown enemy – free market forces. Poetry volumes begun appearing in ever smaller print runs, stripped of state-funded distribution and promotion, becoming a niche phenomena in the process. Yet, within literary circles of the time, there existed the expectation that this dramatic shift would also have a positive effect and a new generation of poets would follow the old guard, commenting and shaping a free Poland in the same way their predecessors had fought with their pens to help define and attain this freedom. Alternative cultural circles popped up all over the country, countless new zines being produced on previously inaccessible photocopiers, along with alternative newspapers and freely-organised live readings. Students set up their own literary journals in Krakow, Warsaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Silesia, which also involved the publication of many new volumes of poetry. to read on, click here... |