The Polish Book Institute

We are continuously in touch with the translators of Polish literature in the world, our greatest allies. Each year in Cracow, and from 2019 also in Warsaw, we host a group of translators, for whom we provide the proper conditions for peaceful work on translations, library searches, as well as meetings with authors and experts.

The Translators' Collegium has been operating since 2006. So far, namely by the end of 2018, 104 translators from 37 countries have come to Cracow as part of 127 scholarship stays (Albania, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Colombia, South Korea, Cuba, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, United Kingdom, Vietnam, United States of America).

During their stays, the translators worked, inter alia, on the new translations of many works: English Zemsta (Vengeance) by Aleksander Fredro (Philip Boehm), Dutch Lalka (The Doll) by Boleslaw Prus (Karol Lesman), Bulgarian Moje słuszne poglądy na wszystko (My Correct Views on Everything) by Leszek Kołakowski (Pravda Spasova), Japanese Tygrys i Róża (Tiger and Rose) by Małgorzata Musierowicz (Kazuko Tamura), Spanish Historia myśli filmowej (TheHistory of Film Thought) by Helman and Ostaszewski (Desiderio Navarro), Ukrainian Szkice krytyczne (Critical Sketches) by Brunon Schulz (Andriy Pavlyshyn), Italian Nocni wędrowcy (The Night Wanderers) by Wojciech Jagielski (Marzena Borejczuk), Finnish Miecz przeznaczenia (Sword of Destiny) by Andrzej Sapkowski (Tapani Kärkkäinen), Latvian Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz (Ingmara Balode), French Widnokrąg (Horizon) by Wiesław Myśliwski (Margot Carlier), Korean short stories by Stanisław Lem (Jiwone Lee), Turkish play Fortynbras się upił (Fortinbras got drunk) by Janusza Głowackiego (Neşe Taluy Yüce), Chinese Podróże z Herodotem (Travels with Herodotus) by Ryszard Kapuściński (Wu Lan), Czech Paw królowej (The Queen’s Peacock) by Dorota Masłowska (Barbora Gregorová), Hungarian Dzienniki (Diaries) by Witold Gombrowicz (Andras Palyi), Vietnamese Lubiewo (Lovetown) by Michał Witkowski (Nguyen Thi Thanh Thu), French Księgi Jakubowe (The Books of Jacob) by Olga Tokarczuk (Maryla Laurent), Georgian Modlitwa o deszcz (Praying for Rain) by Wojciech Jagielski (Ambrosi Grishikashvili), Hungarian Księgi Jakubowe (The Books of Jacob) by Olga Tokarczuk (Gabor Korner), Japanese Niesamowita opowieść (Incredible Story) by Stefan Babiński (Ayano Shibata), German Droga 816 (Route 816) by Michał Książek (Renate Schmidgall), Slovakian Cesarz (The Emperor) by Ryszard Kapuściński (Patrik Oriešek), Hebrew Król (King) by Szczepan Twardoch (Miriam Borenstein), German Ślady (Footprints) by Jakub Małecki (Joanna Manc), Portuguese selection of poems by Tadeusz Różewicz (Regina Przybycień), and many, many others.

Translators live in the Book Institute's guestrooms in Cracow (ul. Z. Wróblewskiego 6) or in former Tadeusz Konwicki flat in Warsaw (ul. Górskiego 1/68).

Rules and regulations:

The study stay programme of the Translators' Collegium is addressed to all translators of Polish literature, both those with great achievements as well as beginners.

The candidates may apply for a monthly stay. It is a typical creative stay, the only possible obligation of the translator is a lecture at the Jagiellonian University. The translators are accommodated at the creative work houses at the Polish Book Institute at 6 Wróblewskiego Street.

Within the study stay, the participant receives:

• reimbursement of travel costs (return trip),
• spending allowance (100 PLN per day),
• access to the Internet; help in organising meetings with publishers or writers as part of a project carried out by a translator.

The translator is obliged to prepare a report on the study stay, which will serve the organisers in their further activities promoting the Translators' Collegium (for example its publication in part or in full). The report should be submitted to the Book Institute on the last day of your stay.

At the request of the organisers, a translator is obligated to conduct a series of workshops on translation or deliver a lecture for the students of philology at the Jagiellonian University or UNESCO Chair for Translation Studies and Intercultural Communication of the Jagiellonian University. The subject is determined together with the translator and the organisers.

The rules of a candidate’s application:

The Candidates apply for themselves and submit the following documents (all sent by e-mail):

• Application form (HERE)
• Full list of published translations (and possibly other publications)
• a letter of recommendation (non-obligatory)

ATTENTION!

Applications for the stays in 2024 are accepted until 30 September 2023 and should be sent to: biuro@instytutksiazki.pl

Qualified translators will be informed about the recruitment results by e-mail by December 15, 2023.

Contact person: Karolina Makieła, k.makiela@instytutksiazki.pl

Translators can participate in the program many times, but study visits can take place once every 2 years.