News
Joseph Conrad Korzeniowski returns in grand style. The most British of Polish writers and the most Polish of British writers will be appearing in the media, exhibition halls, on stage, and in the public space in the coming months. Parliament has declared 2017 Conrad Year, and following this decision, we have an open submission period for applications to the Conrad Program.
The aim of the program is to promote Conrad’s work, but a no less important element will be to provide information on his ties to Poland, which are not widely known. In some readers’ minds, Conrad Korzeniowski was a British writer, which is understandable, given that he wrote in English, and the impact of his books on Anglo-Saxon culture is inestimable (as demonstrated by film adaptations like Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Ridley Scott’s The Duellists). Yet Conrad was a Pole, he considered himself as such, and made a considerable contribution to our culture, and not only through the reception of his works.
The program will support projects to popularize the work and biography of Joseph Conrad Korzeniowski with grants of up to 300,000 PLN, through exhibitions, plays, festivals, films, and seminars. Financing applications can come from state and local government institutions, schools, and subjects running their own economic activities. Foreign institutions can be a partner of projects.
Detailed information on the program (regulations, guidelines, and sample applications) can be found on the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage web page.
The declaration of 2017 Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski Year is meant to be a way of commemorating the 160th anniversary of the birth of the writer of such novels and novellas as Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Shadow Line, and Secret Agent. The anniversary of the author's birth falls on 3 December.