Polish Language Event at Manchester Poetry Library

Join poet and translator Bohdan Piasecki and special guests to celebrate the launch of the Polish language poetry collection at the brand-new Manchester Poetry Library.

Bohdan Piasecki founded the first poetry slam in Poland and has performed regularly around the UK at spoken word nights, festivals and readings.

Introduced by Bohdan Piasecki, poets from the UK and Poland will discuss and respond to work in the collection, unveiled for the first time as we await the physical opening of the space on campus at Manchester Metropolitan University, hopefully soon! The poets will make their own recommendations for writing from Poland, and you are encouraged to join the discussion with questions and maybe even some suggestions of your own.

Bohdan Piasecki founded the first poetry slam in Poland and has performed regularly around the UK at spoken word nights, festivals and readings since moving here to get a doctorate in translation studies. Now based in the Midlands, he has been a regular visiting lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham since 2012 and he has hosted events, stages and workshops for organisations such as the RSC, Latitude Festival, Verve Poetry Festival, Port Eliot Festival, Mouthy Poets, Beatfreaks, where he is creative producer, and Apples and Snakes, where he was the Midlands producer for seven years. As well as being a poet, Bohdan is a translator and interpreter, with a particular interest in poetry translation and working in Polish, English and French, and he and sits on the board of the Poetry Translation Centre.

Part of the UNESCO-backed Manchester City of Literature (MCoL) network, Manchester Poetry Library is the North West’s first public poetry library, with the aim of widening access to poetry and to support the creation and performance of new writing at every level. As well as offering access to texts, the aim is for Manchester Poetry Library to showcase live poetry in the new performance space once current coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings are lifted. In the meantime, events such as this one – coinciding with International Mother Language Day – will continue online.

This event follows on from the successful Radość Pisania: Manchester Polish Poetry Festival, which took place in 2018 and was curated by award-winning poet Mark Pajak of Man Met’s Manchester Writing School, who completed a residency in fellow UNESCO City of Literature Kraków. Fact fans: Radość Pisania means ‘The Joy of Writing’ in Polish and is taken from a piece by Polish poet, essayist, translator and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize Wisława Szymborska.