South African author receives Polish literature award
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
26.05.2017 13:35
South African author Breyten Breytenbach has received this year’s acclaimed Zbigniew Herbert literary award.
South African author Breyten Breytenbach. Photo: Facebook.com/ Fundacja im. Zbigniewa Herberta
“Breytenbach is one of the most highly regarded South African writers,” the Herbert Foundation said on its website. “Writing in both Afrikaans and English, he has published more than fifty books, including collections of poetry, novels, and memoirs.”
Breytenbach is also an acclaimed painter.
As translator Jerzy Koch noted: “Breytenbach brings the arts of writing and painting together, not only because he studied both, or because visual elements dominate his poetry, while the act of examination precedes insight.”
Some of Breytenbach’s best-known works include collections of poetry entitled 'The Iron Cow Must Sweat' (1964) and 'Footnote' (1976) and memoirs based on his time in jail, including 'Mouroir: Mirror Notes of a Novel' (1983).
Zbigniew Herbert, after whom the literary award is named, died in 1998. He was a soldier in the Polish Legions during World War I, served with the Polish underground Home Army (AK) during World War II and was a committed anti-communist writer. (rg/pk)