In defense of ardor: Renowned Polish poet Adam Zagajewski reads in Ann Arbor and Hamtramck

Here is something very, very special indeed for fans of literature and the arts. The University of Michigan and Hamtramck Public Library this week are hosting renowned Polish poet, novelist, and essayist Adam Zagajewski, one of the world’s most important living literary figures.

His poems are the meditations of a wanderer whose questions cannot be answered but must be asked. This is the work of a poet whose deep engagement with history and clear-eyed view of the world around him allows room for both doubt and praise.

A major figure of the Polish New Wave literary movement of the 1968 generation and early 1970s, and of the anti-Communist Solidarity movement of the 1980s, Zagajewski is today one of the most well-known and highly regarded contemporary Polish poets in Europe and the United States. His luminous, searching poems are marked by a deep engagement with history, art and life.

His books of poetry in English include Eternal Enemies and Without End: New and Selected Poems, which was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award in 2002.

Among his honors and awards are a fellowship from the Berliner Kunstlerprogramm, the Kurt Tucholsky Prize, a Prix de la Liberté, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is currently co-editor of Zeszyty literackie (Literary Review), which is published in Paris. Adam Zagajewski lives in France and the United States.

He is appearing in Ann Arbor Thursday (Dec. 4 at 5 p.m.) at the U-M’s Rackham Auditorium, 915 E. Washington. Zagajewski’s visit to the area is made possible by the U-M’s Center for Russian and East European Studies (CREES).

Another reading and reception is at Hamtramck Public Library, Friday, Dec. 5 at 4:30 p.m. A book signing will follow immediately after, with Zagajewski’s books available for purchase. The Library is at 2360 Caniff, Hamtramck. For more info, call 313-365-7050.

Zagajewski's visit is made possible by the University of Michigan’s Zell Visiting Writer’s Series.