A short life of the author
Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) was born on 2 July 1923 in Prowent (now Kórnik), Poland. She lived in Kraków from age eight until her death.
Life and Career
Szymborska’s early collections in the 1950s were influenced by Socialist Realism, which she later repudiated. Her mature work — beginning with Calling Out to Yeti (1957) — is characterized by irony, intellectual curiosity, and an unfailing sense of wonder at the ordinary.
She published only about 350 poems in her entire career — a deliberate asceticism. Poems like “The Joy of Writing,” “Nothing Twice,” “In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself,” and “Possibilities” are widely translated and anthologized. Her Nobel lecture, “The Poet and the World,” is one of the finest defenses of poetry ever written.
Major Works and Themes
Szymborska wrote about the strangeness of existence, the smallness of human knowledge, and the comedy of being alive. Her tone is conversational, self-deprecating, and ironic — she finds philosophical significance in a cat, a resume, or an onion.
Key Works
- Poems New and Collected (1998)
- View with a Grain of Sand (1995)
Collecting Szymborska
Polish originals are the primary collected form. English translations (Harcourt, NYRB) bring $10–$25. Szymborska died in 2012.