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My first meeting with Czesław Miłosz
Julia Hartwig Poet
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During the occupation, I continued to write poetry. It so happened that I had remained friends with Anna Kamieńska, and this friendship was partly because of the fondness we both had for the arts, particularly for poetry. And it was then when she – her aunt was Mrs Cękalska, Miłosz's first wife – Anka asked me on one of the occasions when I was going to Warsaw to drop in on the Miłosz and to show them Anka's and my poetry. And it is... it was very moving because although he behaved in a way without any special... enthusiasm – because ultimately, here were two young girls writing poems, let's have a look and we'll see what it's worth – but I was given some tea and some cakes – during the occupation, this sort of thing was very significant – and this marked the beginning of my association with Miłosz which turned into a friendship, especially once I was in America. We have two files full of letters from Miłosz, which will probably be published at some point. And to this day... I mean, right up until he died, we were in touch by telephone, and whenever I was in Kraków, I'd always visit him. He was a very difficult person but he was so devoted to literature that everything needs to be ascribed to him [sic], everything he did and any mistakes he made. The worst... I admit right from the start that I adore Miłosz's poetry and essays. You could learn a great deal from him.

W czasie okupacji także jeszcze w dalszym ciągu pisałam wiersze i tak się złożyło, że ja nadal przyjaźniłam się z Anną Kamieńską – to była taka jak gdyby taka serdeczność także połączona z podobnymi jak gdyby zamiłowaniami do sztuki, do... zwłaszcza do... do poezji. Otóż wtedy właśnie ona – której... której ciotką była pani Cękalska, pierwsza żona Miłosza – Anka poprosiła mnie jednego mojego wypadu do Warszawy, żebym poszła do Miłoszów i pokazała im i jej swoje wiersze. I to jest... to było bardzo właściwie wzruszające, bo co prawda bardzo się zachował w sposób tak jakoś, no bez takiej szczególnej... szczególnego zapału, bo w końcu dwie panienki piszą wiersze, no zobaczmy co to jest, czy to jest coś warte. No, ale pierwszą jakąś taką dostałam herbatę, dostałam ciasteczka – w czasie okupacji to się bardzo liczyło – i... i właśnie od tego czasu datuje się... datowała się moja znajomość z Miłoszem, która się przerodziła w taki rodzaj przyjaźni, zwłaszcza już w Ameryce. Mamy cały... dwa... dwie teczki listów od Miłosza, które prawdopodobnie będą w pewnym momencie... opublikowane. No i... no i do dzisiaj – znaczy do czasu, do końca jego życia właściwie – byliśmy w... w kontakcie telefonicznym, jak bywałam w Krakowie zawsze go odwiedzałam. Był człowiekiem bardzo trudnym, ale właściwie tak oddanym literaturze, że właściwie wszystko mu trzeba mu przypisać – wszystko, cokolwiek robił i popełnił jakieś błędy. Najgorzej się z tym... po prostu deklaruje się od razu jako wielka wielbicielka poezji i esejów Miłosza. Od niego się można było bardzo dużo nauczyć.

Born to a Polish father and a Russian mother, Julia Hartwig (1921-2017) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator and author of children's books. She studied at the University of Warsaw, the Catholic University in Lublin and the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Czesław Miłosz called her 'the grande dame of Polish poetry'. Julia Hartwig was one of the few poets in Poland who made masterly use of poetic prose. She translated poems by Apollinaire, Rimbaud, Max Jacob, Cendrars and Supervielle, and published monographs on Apollinaire and Gerard de Nerval. She also translated from English, and published a large anthology of American poetry which she co-edited in 1992 with her late husband, the poet Artur Międzyrzecki.

Listeners: Andrzej Wolski

Film director and documentary maker, Andrzej Wolski has made around 40 films since 1982 for French television, the BBC, TVP and other TV networks. He specializes in portraits and in historical films. Films that he has directed or written the screenplay for include Kultura, which he co-directed with Agnieszka Holland, and KOR which presents the history of the Worker’s Defence Committee as told by its members. Andrzej Wolski has received many awards for his work, including the UNESCO Grand Prix at the Festival du Film d’Art.

Tags: America, Kraków, Anna Kamieńska, Janina Cękalska, Czesław Miłosz

Duration: 2 minutes, 6 seconds

Date story recorded: June 2010

Date story went live: 10 May 2011