Piotr Sommer
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 Polish poet, literary expert, translator of contemporary American, English and Irish poetry (e.g. Frank O'Hara, Charles Reznikoff, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Robert Lowell, Derek Mahon, Seamus Heaney), author of poems for children, anthologies with translations, editor of the Literatura na Świecie magazine. He studied English philology in Warsaw. He debuted in 1977 with a collection of poetry W krześle (In the Chair). He received many awards, including the Kościelscy Award (1988) and the Silesius Poetic Award for his entire literary work (2010). In 2010, he was nominated for the NIKE Literary Award. He wrote the following poetic books: Pamiątki po nas (Our Relics) (1980), Przed snem (dla dzieci) (Before Sleep /For Children/) (1981), Kolejny świat (The Next World) (1983), Czynnik liryczny i inne wiersze (Lyrical Factor and Other Poems) (1880-1886)" (1988), Smak detalu i inne ogólniki (The Taste of Detail and Other Generalities) (1995), Piosenka pasterska (The Shepherd’s Song) (1999), Dni i noce (Days and Nights) (2009), Wiersze ze słów (Poems from Words) (2009). He lives in Sulejówek near Warsaw.
His poetry and translation work determined a new quality in Polish poetry. We will find there the tender attention to everyday things and the will to sublimate ordinary situations, which is counterpointed by turning the pathos of everyday life into a joke. Sommer becomes an anthropologist of language; he likes its music and, in search of it, plays with language by bending the syntax and juxtaposing words and intonations from both low and high repertoires of language. His poetry is often a theatre of overheard voices and various sorts of speech, which, in combination with attachment to reality, makes it outstanding and recognisable. The diction characterising his poetry, which is close to everyday life and spoken language and is sometimes called loud thinking, had a significant impact on the young Polish poetry of the 1990s. In the poetry of the author of Dnie i noce everything is balanced properly: the simplicity of expression becomes a complex structure, a story of closeness is present instead of private meandering; focusing on small images, activities and conversations, these poems avoid any kind of false tone.
During the 2nd Conrad Festival, Piotr Sommer will have his own meeting with readers, which will be conducted by Piotr Śliwiński – 6th November (Saturday), at 9.00 p.m. in the Galicja Museum (ul. Dajwór 18).
Picture: Elżbieta Lempp
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