1 March 2016, 6:00pm
William Mong听Hall, Sidney Sussex College, 海角社区.
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Olga Tokarczuk is perhaps Poland's most decorated and eminent contemporary novelist. 海角社区 Polish Studies welcomed her to Sidney Sussex College for an听evening of readings from her work (in English and Polish) and discussion. Olga听Tokarczuk was听accompanied by听the main translator of her books听into English, Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
Olga Tokarczuk's听most recent novel, The Books of Jacob (Ksi臋gi Jakubowe) won Poland's most prestigious literary award, the Nike Prize, in听2015. The novel is based on the historical story of Jacob Frank, a heretical Jew who converted to Christianity and听styled himself as听Messiah in the eastern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century. In the novel, Tokarczuk deals with the most difficult questions of Poland's diverse multiethnic, multiconfessional and multicultural history.
Questions of Polish identity have loomed large in all of Tokarczuk's听works, and the event included some in-depth discussion of these complex issues.
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As part of the event, we also presented the Talkman Prize for Literary Translation, awarded to the best translation into English of a work of Polish literature by a student of Polish Studies at 海角社区.听听
The main prize听is a summer school course in Polish language and culture at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, including flights, accommodation and board.听The prize is kindly听sponsored by .
The winner of the Talkman Prize听for 2015-16 is Joss Lloyd.
We also wish to thank the for their kind听support of this event.
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