Launch of Heaney-Miłosz Literacy Residency in Krakow

The Estate of Seamus Heaney, together with Krakow Festival Office and the Embassy of Ireland in Poland, this evening launched a new Literary Residency at the apartment of the late Nobel laureate Czesław Miłosz in Krakow, Poland. Heaney visited Krakow many times, including visits to Miłosz at his apartment.

The Residency will support an emerging writer, resident in Ireland, with space and time to focus on their writing. Following an open Call for Applications, the selected writer will undertake a Residency in Czesław Miłosz’s former apartment in Krakow city centre in autumn 2023. Full details in relation to the Residency programme are now available at literaryresidenciespoland.pl.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, welcomed the launch:

"The Heaney-Miłosz Residency creates a wonderful opportunity for an emerging writer to be inspired by one of Central Europe’s most historic cities. The collaboration between our Embassy in Poland, the Heaney family, and the city of Krakow is a fitting tribute to the friendship between these Nobel Laureates, and a strengthening of Irish-Polish cultural relations."

At the Residency launch in Krakow, Catherine and Chris Heaney spoke of their father’s deep connections with Poland:

"Poland - and the city of Krakow in particular - held a critically important place in our father’s imagination and affections, particularly as the home of his friend and mentor Czesław Miłosz. The opportunity to celebrate their friendship and, at the same time, provide an emerging Irish writer with the creative space to pursue their own work, is something that our father would have been extremely proud of."

Ambassador of Ireland to Poland, Emer O’Connell, highlighted the importance of the new Residency as a basis for deepening the many existing literary links between Ireland and Poland:

"Ireland and Poland share a love of language and literature. Our hope is that this Residency will not only support emerging writers, but also build further connections between writers in both our countries."

Krakow City’s Plenipotentiary for Culture, Robert Piaskowski, hailed the Heaney-Miłosz Residency as critically important for the city:

"As a UNESCO City of Literature, international partnerships form the bedrock of what we do. Given the enduring friendship between Seamus Heaney and Czesław Miłosz it is a perfect fit that we will celebrate their respective legacies here in the heart of our city of culture."

The Residency launch event, which took place at the Potocki Palace on Krakow’s famous main square, also featured the opening of the National Library of Ireland’s exhibition Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again. The exhibition will be displayed at the Potocki Palace during the month of July.

Notes

The Heaney-Miłosz Residency launch took place on 6 July to coincide with the opening of the Miłosz Literary Festival in Krakow, Poland, which runs from 7-10 July 2022. The three partners involved in the Residency are: The Embassy of Ireland in Poland, the Estate of Seamus Heaney and the Krakow Festival Office.

Polish-American Czesław Miłosz is one of the most respected figures in 20th-century Polish literature, as well as one of the most respected contemporary poets in the world. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980.

Seamus Heaney is one of the most respected and internationally acclaimed figures in Irish literature. He authored over 20 volumes of poetry and criticism, and edited several widely used anthologies. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995.

Seamus Heaney visited Krakow seven times, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2005 at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. His sonnet 'When All the Others Were Away at Mass' was chosen by the Irish public as Ireland's favourite poem of the past 100 years.

Full details in relation to the Heaney-Miłosz Residency are available at literaryresidenciespoland.pl from Wednesday, 6 July 2022. The Call for Applications is open until 30 September 2022. Queries in relation to the application process can be directed to contact@literaryresidenciespoland.pl

Applications will be assessed by an Evaluation Board comprised of three Irish members and three Polish members, each representing literary and cultural organisations in Ireland and Poland respectively. More information on the Evaluation Board can be found at literaryresidenciespoland.pl.