Magnetic Point: Selected Poems

bornintransit/IcameuponontheplaceofdeathSoRyszardKrynickibeginstheearlylyricthatgavehis1969debutvolumeActofBirthitstitle(apoemwhichends:?Ilive/intheplaceofdeath?).Thesearenotsimplymetaphors.OneofthegreatestpoetsofpostwarPoland,Krynickiwasbornin1943inaNazilaborcampinAustria,wherehisparents,PolishpeasantsfromUkraine,servedasslavelaborers.ActofBirthmarkedtheemergenceofamajorvoice-alongsideAdamZagajewskiandStanislawBaranczak-inPoland?s?Generationof68?or?NewWave.?Politicalandpoeticrebellionconverged,andtheregimetooknotice.Duringthe1970sand80s,Krynickiwasarrestedontrumped-upcharges,dismissedfromwork,andforbiddenfrompublishing.Buttoreadhispoetryaspurelypoliticalwouldbeamistake.Theearlylyric?ActofBirth?displaystheacutelinguisticandethicalsensitivityatwork.Adistinctivecombinationofmysticism,compression,andwitshapesKrynicki?swritingfromtheearlydissidentpoemstohislatehaiku.SmallwonderthathisinfluencesspanthedistancefromIssatoZbigniewHerbert,andincludeNellySachsandPaulCelan(bothofwhomhehastranslatedsplendidly).Himselfaneditor,publisher,andacclaimedtranslator,Krynickihaswonmajorprizes,fromthePolishPoets?Awardto,mostrecently,the2015ZbigniewHerbertInternationalLiteraturePrize.,