Yesterday (24.03.2014) in Wroclaw died Tadeusz Różewicz (aged 92). He was one of the greatest contemporary Polish poets, winner of numerous international literary awards, including the “Golden Wreath” of Struga Poetry Evenings in 1987.

Tadeusz Różewicz was born on 9 September, 1921 in Rodomsko, near Łódź. He studied art history at University in Krakow Jagiellonskie. The war and the occupation of Poland by Germany interrupted the writing of young Różewicz who has been publishing his works in various literary journals since 1938.

His first collection of poems “Anxiety” is published in 1947. Experiencing the horrors of war, he realized that is no longer possible to write the same way as before. His creative position is clear: “If the nineteenth century killed God, and the twentieth century killed man, then how is possible to write poetry that is emancipation of the human being?” That is why he is one of the first poets who made drastic changes in poetic expression, rejecting romantic ornamentalism and the use of poetry as a cathartic medium. His poetry is full of irony, black humor and cynicism, yet his highest achievement was in the field of so-called anti-poetry in contemporary art in Poland. And as the wars bare the bloodthirsty human beings, so does Różewicz, who completely undresses poetry. His view is that poetry must die for a new one to be born, because poetry is a perfect mirror of the man and the time in which he lived.

Other significant books of poetry is “The Red Glove” (1948 ), “Time passes” ( 1951), ” Plain ” ( 1951), “Silver Class” (1955 ), “Collected Poems”, “Forms”, “Conversation with a Prince” ( 1960) , “Green rose”, “Face” (1964 ), “The Third Face party” (1968 ), ” Collected Poems” (1976) and others.

Różewicz was also a masterful playwright, a key figure in polish theater of absurd. He described his own theater as realistic-poetic. Różewicz has writen 12 plays. His most famous plays include The Card Index (1958), The Old Lady Sits Waiting (1969), and The Trap (1982) .

At this moment, while paying respect, Struga Poetry Evenings reminds that his literary achievements and values, for which he was crowned with the highest international recognition for poetry the „Golden Wreath“, remains to be permanently stored in the world’s treasury of poetry through numerous translations, including in Macedonian language.

Struga Poetry Evenings