VanJessica Gladney
on translating Wisława Szymborska
My translation process was pretty fun. I reviewed several other poetic translations, and a classmate who spoke Polish and loved Szymborska helped me with direct translations. After researching the author and executing some poetic license I wrote my translation.
about the author
Like this poem, Polish poet Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) is just fine untitled. No one label could fit the unique amalgamation of simplicity, sincerity, and solemnity that seeps through her poems, illustrations, collages, photographs, and anecdotes. Szymborska’s poetry is known for its layers of profundity under a light-hearted, witty surface. She lived in Krakow, Poland, for most of her life and wrote about the Polish countryside and historical events. Her poetry is internationally revered and has been translated into almost every language. In 1996, Szymborska received the Nobel Prize for Literature; her acceptance speech was about the irony in the notion of poetry as a profession.
about the translator
VanJessica Gladney has lived in Georgia, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Massachusetts, and now Philadelphia. She is a third-year student at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is an English major. She has a gorgeous and very beloved cat named Prism.
photo by Natalia Pleśniak
