Literature
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short story
A Sunny Day
Reading / literature
In this short story from Paweł Huelle’s “Talita”, a Jewish man with a beautiful voice takes a walk along the riverside on a sunny day in Poland.
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short story
To Everything, Tern Tern Tern
Reading / literature
A short story set in 2040, when due to global warming Iceland’s climate becomes
vastly colder and harsher. A biology teacher disappears during a school trip and her daughter starts to search for her.
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You Don’t Exist

Fiction
You Don’t Exist
An Excerpt from the Novel “Erased”
Reading / literature
In this extract from Miha Mazzini’s “Erased”, two Slovenians have an unpleasant surprise when trying to return to an apartment in Ljubljana.
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short story
Captain Nobody
Reading / literature
We imagine how Captain Nemo might have looked, had he been a Polish aristocrat fighting Russian tyranny, as Jules Verne originally intended in “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”.
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Poematic
Sculptures for the Blind
Reading / literature
“The blind view sculptures with their fingers.” A poem by a contemporary Polish poet.
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Fiction
A Polish Tourist in the USSR
Reading / literature
In this extract from Juliusz Strachota’s “A Polish Tourist in the USSR” the protagonist makes his way to Crimea with the help of a childhood guide book.
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short story
The End of the World
Reading / literature
Our writer imagines a situation in which the world ends – by returning every animate and inanimate thing to its beginning.
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Poematic
funeral
Reading / literature
“to dust you won’t return / not quite.” A poem by a contemporary Polish poet.
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Non-Fiction
Peter Mac Looks at the Luggage
Reading / literature
In this excerpt from Małgorzata Szejnert’s non-fiction book “Ellis Island: A People’s History”, the author recounts the peculiarities of the island’s multinational luggage room.
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The Art of Translation with Sean Gasper Bye

The Art of Translation with Sean Gasper Bye
The Valdemar Questionnaire
Reading / literature
Sean Gasper Bye speaks with Valdemar about the difficulties with Adam Mickiewicz, why sophistication is overrated, and his translation of Małgorzata Szejnert’s “Ellis Island: A People’s History”.
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Non-Fiction
The Dyatlov Pass Tragedy
Reading / literature
In this extract from Alice Lugen’s “The Dyatlov Pass Tragedy”, the author describes the events leading up to the trip during which a group of young hikers died in mysterious circumstances in Russia’s northern Urals.
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Boys

Non-Fiction
Boys
An Excerpt from “Absolute Zero”
Reading / literature
In this extract from Artem Chekh’s book “Absolute Zero”, the author gives an account of his experiences as a soldier visiting a town in Eastern Ukraine affected by the war in Donbas.
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short story
New Jesus
Reading / literature
In the future, people and dogs walk on water. This short story by an award-winning American novelist is the story of a certain beginning.
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So Much Cash!

So Much Cash!
The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma
Reading / literature
In this excerpt from the first published translation of Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz’s classic 1932 novel “The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma”, the titular protagonist is made an offer he can’t refuse...
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The Art of Translation with Ewa Małachowska-Pasek and Megan Thomas

The Art of Translation with Ewa Małachowska-Pasek and Megan Thomas
The Valdemar Questionnaire
Reading / literature
Ewa Małachowska-Pasek and Megan Thomas speak with Valdemar about humour in Polish literature, being a sniper team, and their translation of Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz’s “The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma”.
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Non-Fiction
My Three Wishes
Reading / literature
In 1980, the Polish science-fiction writer Stanisław Lem was asked by a German publisher to list his three most personal wishes. He reveals them in this exclusive translation.
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Non-Fiction
A Time Bomb Explodes
Reading / literature
In this extract from Mariusz Szczygieł’s “Not There”, the author visits The Dead People’s Shop in Budapest, Hungary, where he considers making a purchase.
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deep soundings
Isle of Two Volcanoes
Reading / literature
“In its crater, instead of magma, / the green chill of a lake.” A poem by a contemporary Polish poet.
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deep soundings
The Simple
Reading / literature
“The women cluster at the cathedral,/ hair in careful bouffant helmets/ armored and elegant, poised to herd/ purposefully/ into Mystery.” A poem by a contemporary American poet.
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An Introduction to Cynthia Hogue’s “The Simple”
Reading / literature
Cynthia Hogue’s poem “The Simple” is a rejection of the temptation of absolutes.
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