At our Polish Book Club, we read a Polish novel, either in translation or in Polish and come together to discuss it. 

Our discussions take place in English each time, and we do not expect any knowledge of Polish or Poland. The sessions take the form of discussions, which we start of with a brief introduction of the text.

The books we choose for the Polish Book Club are available in libraries and bookshops, as well as online at wolnelektury.pl (for public domain originals).

The Polish Book Club is open to everyone around the world for free. We just ask you to read the book in a language of your choice.

This time we will be reading:

White Nights by Urszula Honek

White Nights, the debut short story collection from poet Urszula Honek, is a series of thirteen interconnected stories concerning the various tragedies and misfortunes that befall a group of people who all grew up and live(d) in the same village in the Beskid Niski region, in southern Poland. Each story centres itself around a different character and how it is that they manage to cope, survive or merely exist, despite, and often in ignorance of, the poverty, disappointment, tragedy, despair, brutality and general sense of futility that surrounds them. Urszula relates to us, with the sincerest care and honesty, a localised, yet so clearly universal, story of ruin and hope: a story where the protagonists do not ask to be understood, but merely to be seen and to be heard. Kate Webster’s translation of Urszula’s poetic, yet often earthen, prose brings us to places that, though they are seldom seen in literature, we may never forget.

We recommend this new translation by Kate Webster

Kate Webster is professional translator, editor and subtitler based in London, UK. She translates from Polish into English, specialising in literature, the arts and academia. Her translations have been nominated for prestigious awards including the International Booker Prize and the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize.

You can check out the next instance of the Polish Book Club, here

If you enjoy events about literary translation, take a look at what else we have planned at the Centre, here.