Jerzy Ficowski reconstructs the life of Bruno Schulz, a Jewish writer and artist murdered by the Nazis, highlighting his unique fictional vision. The biography delves into Schulz's artistic contributions and personal experiences, enriched by a collection of his paintings and letters. This exploration not only honors Schulz's legacy but also sheds light on the cultural and historical context surrounding his work, contributing to a renewed interest in his life and art.
Exploring the themes of loss and the aftermath of war, Jerzy Ficowski's short stories and sketches reinterpret the mythologization of reality inspired by Bruno Schulz. Set against the backdrop of postwar Poland, these narratives blend memory, religious rituals, and daily life with elements of the magical. The author evokes a haunting atmosphere, suggesting a sinister presence that reflects the disintegration of the past and the alienation of the present, as the narrator grapples with the remnants of a once-familiar world.
In November 1942, Bruno Schulz, teacher of drawing and handicrafts at a boys' college in Drohobycz, was shot dead by a Gestapo officer as he brought home a loaf of bread.
"What good luck to finally have in English the writings of the brilliant Jerzy Ficowski, the poet who lived at least seventeen lives, fighting in the Warsaw Uprising, and later traveling for years with the Roma people through the roads of Poland, opposing his government, and watching the authorities ban his poems, a poet who translated from Spanish and Romanian and Yiddish and Roma, but most of all from the tongue of silence...Beautifully translated by Jennifer Grotz and Piotr Sommer, these poems also document the tragedy of the Holocaust, with the direct and uncompromising voice with which he reminds us of the great poets such as Różewicz and Świrszczyńska, while remaining, all the while, himself. Read a piece such as 'I was unable to save / a single life' in a bookstore, and I guarantee you will want to take this book with you, to keep it for the rest of your life."--Ilya Kaminsky -- "Thanks to these brilliant, careful, inspired translations, we can now read Jerzy Ficowski, one of Poland's best kept secrets. This book is a marvel in its weird clarity and extraordinary range of styles and subjects, from the perfectly unassuming paradox of the title, all the way through to its final poems about bumblebees and Satie and mother nature, who scratches herself and 'shudders / with a tsunami.' How fortunate we are to have the unassailable evidence that all along, there was yet another genius of 20th century Polish poetry."--Matthew Zapruder -- Poetry. Jewish Studies
Hardback book with dust jacket titled THE GYPSIES IN History and Customs by Jerzy Ficowski. Published in 1989 by Interpress Publishers. Illustrated in black and white photographs/reproductions with a few in color. Bookseller since 1995 (ULG-3-bottom-R-flat) rareviewbooks
Jerzy Ficowski pierwszy wkroczył w rejony cygańskich tajemnic, gdy cztery lata po wojnie dołączył do taborów. Od samych Cyganów uczył się ich kultury, obyczaju, moralnego kodeksu, języka.U źródeł wielu dokonań Ficowskiego było olśnienie. Ten blask przedostał się do jego cygańskich prac. Są w nich strony przejmujące i zabawne, poważne i ironiczne, naukowe i reporterskie.Lidia Ostałowska
Jerzy Ficowski's "Bylejaczek Z Bylejaczkiem" reads like an engaging Netflix series, featuring a captivating plot, sharp dialogue, and a well-paced narrative. This whimsical, poetic tale follows a charmingly mischievous boy who ventures into the woods, convinced that everyone there dreams of a lazy, tousled king. However, he soon faces his first disappointments. The character of Bylejaczek was discovered years ago while compiling a selection of Ficowski's children's poetry, "Lodorosty i bluszczary" (2017), where a manuscript of this poem, complete with handwritten edits, was found in the poet's archives. Originally published in 1958 in "Świerszczyk," the poem was serialized and accompanied by illustrations from the talented Hanna Krajnik. Although it was consciously omitted from the earlier collection, the hope was to give Bylejaczek its own book someday. Recently, Gabriela Gorączko, recognized for her work in the "Książka Roku 2020" contest, illustrated this edition. The reasons Ficowski never included this poem in his later children's books remain a mystery, perhaps because the mischievous boy cleverly hid in the archives. Regardless, the story retains its literary and personal charm and is now presented in its first book edition, ready to enchant a new generation of readers.
Baśnie cygańskie opowiedziane przez poetę, Jerzego Ficowskiego. Ilustracje Wiesław Szumiński