Wislawa Szymborska

"for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality"

Wislawa Szymborska was born in Kornik in Western Poland on 2 July 1923. Since 1931 she has been living in Krakow, where during 1945-1948 she studied Polish Literature and Sociology at the Jagiellonian University.

Her poems were published in many of Polish newspapers such as 'Dzennik Polski' or 'Gazeta Wyborcza', and
during 1953-1981 she worked as poetry editor and columnist in the Krakow literary weekly "Zycie Literackie".

Dlatego zyjemy (1952),
Pytania zadawane sobie (1954),
Wolanie do Yeti (1957),
Sól (1962),
Wiersze wybrane (1964),
Poezje wybrane (1967),
Sto pociech (1967),
Poezje (1970),
Wszelki wypadek (1972),
Wybór wierszy (1973),
Tarsjusz i inne wiersze (1976),
Wielka liczba (1976),
Poezje wybrane II (1983),
Ludzie na moscie (1986),
Koniec i poczatek (1993, 1996),
Widok z ziarnkiem piasku. 102 wiersze (1996).

Szymborska frequently employs literary devices such as irony, paradox, contradiction, and understatement, to illuminate philosophical themes and obsessions. Szymborska's compact poems often conjure large existential puzzles, touching on issues of ethical import, and reflecting on the condition of people both as individuals and as members of human society. Szymborska's style is succinct and marked by introspection and wit.

Szymborska's reputation rests on a relatively small body of work: she has not published more than 250 poems to date. She is often described as modest to the point of shyness[citation needed]. She has long been cherished by Polish literary contemporaries (including Czes%u0142aw Mi%u0142osz) and her poetry has been set to music by Zbigniew Preisner. Szymborska became better known internationally after she was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize. Szymborska's work has been translated into many European languages, as well as into Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese and Chinese.
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