They Came to See a Poet

Tadeusz Rózewicz is Poland's most popular and influential poet. Born in 1921, he belongs to the generation of writers whose work was indelibly marked by Poland's traumatic and tragic war-time experience. Rejecting traditional aesthetic values - which struck him as offensive in the face of what he had witnessed - Rózewicz has created a stark, direct poetry rooted in common speech. Yet Rózewicz's poetry is not confined to recording the horrors of war. They Came to See a Poet includes poems addressing childhood, friendship, love, eroticism, art, the poet's rôle and obligations, religion, ageing, death and the anxieties of modern civilization. In 2003 Tadeusz Rózewicz was awarded the Montale Prize, the latest of many awards and honours. Adam Czerniawski, born in Warsaw in 1934, has translated widely from Polish (including Selected Poems by Cyprian Norwid, also from Anvil) as well as publishing original poetry, short stories, criticism and a memoir in his first language. He lives in Wales.