M.Szczygiel establishes a series of books by Czech authors

The first to be published is Čapek’s The Absolute at Large.

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Fabryka absolutu (The Absolute at Large). Photograph © Petr Janyška

Fabryka absolutu (The Absolute at Large). Photograph © Petr Janyška

In Warsaw, Čapek’s The Absolute at Large has just been published as the first book in the “Goldfinch Series”, the brainchild of the well-known journalist and writer Mariusz Szczygiel (whose surname means Goldfinch). Previous editions of this work by Čapek last came out in Poland in 1971, and before that in 1947.

Szczygiel recently launched the book series of Czech authors, something which is close to his heart. “The Goldfinch Series is my own literary selection. Several times a year I’ll be offering you the best of Czech literature, the books I couldn’t tear myself away from. Novels, short stories, reportage. Some of them have already been published in Poland but have since been forgotten. Others will be published for the first time. The best translators I know will be responsible for translating them,” writes Szczygiel about his project on the book’s blurb.

The graphic design for the series is interesting and different from the majority of Polish books. Most of the books will have illustrations by Kateřina Sidonová, who Szczygiel discovered himself and is very enthusiastic about. The cover is simply a picture with a piece of paper over it which has the name of the book and some information about the author. Inside the book is a similar piece of paper with Szczygiel’s commentary on the book and the author.

In a few weeks’ time “Katyn” by Pavel Kohout is to be published, followed by Škvorecký’s “Engineer of Human Souls” and Ota Pavel’s “Fairy Tale about Raška and Other Reportage”.

Szczygiel’s series is being published by Dowody na istnienie (Reasons for Existing), which specializes in reportage.
This series will be a major contribution towards the translation of Czech literature in Poland, which is very popular there, though some authors or works remain in obscurity or have been out of print for a long time. Each year in Poland several young Czech authors are published, but this is the first series that is purely Czech. A few years ago Agora publishers attempted something similar (Agora publish the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, which Szczygiel contributed to for many years) when they brought out a series of 17 books by Czech authors which had been used as the basis for a film adaptation, a DVD of which was included.

No-one else in Poland has done as much to raise interest in the life and culture of its Czech neighbours as Mariusz Szczygiel. He takes great pains with style, he writes eloquently and with seeming ease, he has a gift for picking out unusual detail and his characters are three-dimensional, as though he were a native reporter documenting real life. After Gottland and other books of his appeared on the market, interest in Czech courses grew in Poland and people began to make more frequent trips across Poland’s southern border. For several years now Czechs have topped the list of the Poles’ favourite foreigners.

Petr Janyška
Director of the Czech Centre in Warsaw

CzechLit