Biography

Wislawa Szymborska was born on July 2, 1923 in Prowent, Poznanskie [now part of Kórnik, Wielkopolskie], Poland. She was a writer, known for Teatr Polskiego Radia (1952), Tortures (2017) and Nothing Twice (2005). She was married to Adam Wlodek. She died on February 1, 2012 in Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland.

Polish poet known for her poetic rhythm and playfulness in her writing

Was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996.

She was the first female Polish poet to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

When she was age 8, her family moved to Krakow. During the Nazi occupation, she attended a clandestine school, risking punishment. Later, she studied literature and sociology at the prestigious Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

Her play, "Into The Empty Sky," at the Trap Door Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2018 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Ensemble.

She cohabited with Kornel Filipowicz from October 1967 to February 28, 1990 (his death).

Someone sits at a table or lies on a sofa while staring motionless at a wall or ceiling. Once in a while this person writes down seven lines, only to cross out one of them 15 minutes later, and then another hour passes, during which nothing happens. Who could stand to watch this kind of thing? (In her Nobel lecture, joking about how great movies can be made of the lives of scientists and artists, but poets' lives offer far less promising material)

When I was young I had a moment of believing in the Communist doctrine. I wanted to save the world through Communism. Quite soon I understood that it doesn't work......I wanted to do something good for mankind. Soon I understood that it isn't possible to save mankind. (in an interview with poet and critic Edward Hirsch)