BIO
Born on 5 December 1946 in Katowice; son of the economist Tadeusz Sławek and Anna, née,Karwaniak. He was a pupil at the Adam Mickiewicz Grammar School No. III in Katowice, where he completed his advanced secondary education in 1964. He subsequently studied Polish philology at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) in Krakow. During this period he started writing poetry and in 1969 he received third prize in the Golden Mining Lamp (Złota Lampka Górnicza) competition for his poem Labirynt podziemny (Underground labyrinth). He took an interest in big-beat music. He became involved in the underground art world in Katowice, which was linked to the milieu centred around the studio of the painter and performer Andrzej Urbanowicz along with the Oneiron Circle of painters. During the third year of his degree in Polish philology, he also began studying English philology at UJ. Together with his fellow students and under the leadership of Prof. Przemysław Mroczkowski, he was involved in the formation of the English Studies Student Theatre (Teatr Studentów Anglistyki) at UJ, which staged plays in English. Sławek's roles included playing the duke in William Shakespeare's As You Like It. He made his print debut in 1969 with a column piece, Studenci w Bazylei (Students in Basel), in "Życie Literackie" (no. 30), which reported on the Theatre's performances in Switzerland. He graduated with a master's degree in Polish philology in 1969. His thesis, Stanisław Brzozowski i kultura angielska (Stanisław Brzozowski and English culture), was supervised by Prof. Henryk Markiewicz. In 1971, he graduated in English philology with a thesis on William Blake that was supervised by Prof. Claire Dąbrowska. He then returned to Katowice, where he was employed as an English language tutor on the Foreign Languages Programme at the University of Silesia (UŚ). In 1972, together with the art historian Stanisław Piskor, the Polish philologist Włodzimierz Paźniewski and the English studies scholar Andrzej Szuba, he founded the Kontekst Poetry Group, which remained active until 1981. Sławek was subsequently a member of the editorial committee of the group's literary-artistic almanach, "Studio", with eight volumes appearing by 1986. Sławek published translations and poetry there (1982, and 1984-85). He made his debut as a translator in 1973, with Polish versions of poems by Richard Brautigan (The Galilee Hitch-Hiker – Polish: Autostopowicz z Galilei and Allen Ginsberg (A Supermarket in California – Polish:Kalifornijski supermarket) appearing in "Poezja" (no. 4). He made his debut as a poet with Lekcja anatomii (Anatomy lesson), which appeared in 1974 in "Poglądy" (no. 23). His poems, prose pieces, articles, translations and reviews also appeared in the periodicals "Literatura na Świecie" (1974-2003, intermittently) and "Nowy Wyraz" (1974-75, 1979, and 1981). He was involved in the jazz & poetry movement and in 1977 started collaborating with the double bassist Bogdan Mizerski, with whom he performed musical-poetic recitals titled eseje na głos i kontrabas (essays for voice and double bass) as part of the Dźwiękowy Teatr Interpretacyjny (Interpretive Audio Theatre), which gave some 200 concerts (between 1995 and 2002 Mizerski's label OFF Records released several recordings on tape and vinyl). Sławek remained active as a literary historian, focusing on British and US-American literature, and as a literary theorist. In 1978, he was awarded a doctoral degree from UŚ for his dissertation Wnętrze. Z problemów doświadczenia przestrzeni w poezji (Interior: On experiencing space in poetry), which was supervised by Prof. Ireneusz Opacki. For around fifteen years, starting in the late 1970s, he ran the interdisciplinary seminar Er(r)go together with Wojciech Kalaga, Emanuel Prower and Tadeusz Rachwał. It resulted in five edited volumes, published between 1985 and 1990, co-edited with Wojciech Kalaga. He enjoyed two research stays at the University of California in San Diego, first as a Fulbright Program scholar in 1979/80 and then as a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies in 1989/90. He was a visiting professor at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, in 1984. Between 1985 and 1987, he was in the band Light from Poland alongside Krzysztof Knittel and Mieczysław Litwiński. He moved to Cieszyn in 1986. That year he was awarded a habilitation degree from the Faculty of Philology at the Adam Mickiewicz University (UAM) in Poznan for his study The Outlined Shadow. Phenomenology, Grammatology, Blake. He was subsequently appointed senior lecturer at the Faculty of Philology at UŚ. Between 1990 and 1993, he was a member of the Committee on Literary Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (KNoL PAN). From 1990 to 1996, he was director of the Cieszyn Education Society (Cieszyńskie Towarzystwo Oświatowe). He joined the Polish Writers' Association (SPP) in 1991. From 1991 to 1994, he was associate dean of the Faculty of Philology at UŚ. His reviews, articles and translations appeared in "BruLion" (1989-92), "NaGłos" (1993), "Kresy" (1995), "Śląsk" (1998, 2002-03, and 2007), and "Tygodnik Powszechny" (where he was a regular contributor from 1998). For his article Osamotnienie żałoby (The Loneliness of Mourning), which appeared in "Tygodnik Powszechny" in 2007 (no. 31), he received that year's Grand Press award in the opinion pieces category. In 1992, he was made state appointed professor and associate professor at UŚ, before becoming full professor there in 1999. He was a visiting professor at Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II in Naples in 1992 and at Stanford University in California in 1994/95. In 1993, he joined the Polish Association for the Study of English – PASE (Stowarzyszenie Nauczycieli Akademickich Filologii Angielskiej). He was director of the Department of the History of English Literature and deputy director of the Institute of English Philology and General Linguistics at UŚ. Between 1996 and 2002, he was rector of UŚ and also president of the Regional Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, while from 1999 to 2002 he was deputy chair of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities. Between 2002 and 2012, he was head of the new Chair in Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Philology at UŚ. He was a member of the Praesidium of the Poland in a United Europe Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and of the Praesidium of the Main Council of Science and Higher Education. He was awarded the UŚ Rector's prize on several occasions, as well as the Prize of the Minister of National Education. In 2000, he received the Wojciech Korfanty Prize, awarded by the Upper Silesian Association, while in 2002 he received the Lux ex Silesia for outstanding service to the region, as well as the Black Diamond Special Prize from the Chamber of Industry and Trade of the Rybnik Industrial Area. In 2003, he received the Solidarność Literary Award in recognition of his oeuvre. That year, he also started presenting the music show Uszy duszy (Soul of the Ears) on Radio eM, moving to Radio Katowice in 2015. In 2005, he became editor-in-chief of the periodical "Civitas Mentis" (until 2007; two volumes) and editor of the series Komparatystyka Literacka i Kulturowa (Comparative Literature and Culture), published by University of Silesia Press (Wydawnictwo UŚ) in Katowice. Between 2006 and 2013, he held the Chair of Interdisciplinary Linguistic Studies at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences at the Tischner European University in Krakow. In 2007, he received the UŚ Pro Scientia et Arte Prize. From 2009 to 2015, he was a member of the jury of the Silesius Wroclaw Poetry Prize. Between 2009 and 2011, he was head of the programme council of Katowice's bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2016. In 2012, he started lecturing at the Institute of Philology at the Humanitas University in Sosnowiec. He published articles and reviews in "Przegląd Filozoficzno-Literacki" (2008 and 2010) "Gazeta Wyborcza" (2011 and 2014), "Opcje" (2011 and 2014), "Znak" (2011-12, 2015, and 2017), "Nauka" (2013), "Przegląd Polityczny" (2014), "Respublica" (2014), "Herito" (2015), "Czas Kultury" (2015), and "Tygiel Kultury" (2015). He received the Silesian Emerald award from the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Katowice in 2013 "in recognition both of his outstanding literary and academic achievements, and of the ecumenical spirit expressed in his written works". In 2015, he was appointed to the Chapter of the Memorial Prize of the First Rector of the University of Lodz Prof. Tadeusz Kotarbiński. He received the 2017 Adam Mickiewicz Award, presented by the jury of the Poznan Literary Prize, in recognition of his oeuvre. He was elected to the Silesian Regional Assembly in 2018 as a candidate of the Civic Coalition (KO). He received the Gold Cross of Merit in 2016 and the Medal of the Commission of National Education the same year. He married the Polish philologist Ewa Romankiewicz in 1972. He has lived Cisownica, near Goleszów, in the Cieszyn region since 2000.
Twórczość
1. Grand Circus Hotel. [Wiersze]. Katowice: Oddział Związku Literatów Polskich 1977, 16 s.
2. Spór o poezję. [Szkice; autorzy:] W. Paźniewski, S. Piskor, A. Szuba. Pod red. S. Piskora. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie 1977, 170 s.
Zawartość
3. Staw. [Wiersze]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie 1982, 53 s.
Zawartość
4. Wnętrze. Z problemów doświadczenia przestrzeni w poezji. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 1984, 234 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 527.
Zawartość
5. Rozmowa. [Wiersze]. Katowice: Śląsk 1985, 66 s.
6. The outlined shadow. Phenomenology, grammatology, Blake. [Eseje]. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 1985, 159 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 727.
Zawartość
7. Oczy to nie wszystko. [Opowiadania dla dzieci]. Katowice: Śląsk 1988, 57 s.
Zawartość
8. Między literami. Szkice o poezji konkretnej. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie 1989, 148 s.
Zawartość
9. Andrzej Szewczyk. Manuskrypty = Manuscripts. Galeria Starmach, V-VI 1990. [Katalog wystawy]. Tekst: T. Sławek. Kraków : Wydawnictwo im. W.L. Anczyca 1990 , [12] s.
10. The dark glory. Robinson Jeffers and his philosophy of Earth time & things. [Eseje]. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 1990, 152 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach,1086.
Zawartość
11. „Lines, planes and solids”. Studies in the seventeenth-century writings. [Współautor:] T. Rachwał. Katowice: Uniwersytet Śląski 1992, 102 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 1256.
12. Maszyna do pisania. O dekonstruktywistycznej teorii Jacquesa Derridy. [Eseje; współautor:] T. Rachwał. Warszawa: Oficyna Literatów „Rój” 1992, 245 s.
Zawartość
13. Sfera szarości. Studia nad literaturą i myślą osiemnastego wieku. [Eseje; współautor:] T. Rachwał. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 1993, 184 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 1359.
Zawartość
14. Człowiek radosny – Blake, Nietzsche. [Eseje]. Kielce: Szumacher 1994, 46 s. Spotkania z Literaturą.
15. O głodzie. Wiersze. Katowice: Śląsk 1994, 77 s.
16. Literary voice. The calling of Jonah. [Eseje; współautor:] D. Wesling. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press 1995, XII, 238 s. SUNY Series, the Margins of Literature.
Zawartość
17. Geometry, winding paths and the mansions of spirit. Aesthetics of gardening in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. [Eseje; współautorzy:] D. Jarrett, T. Rachwał. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 1997, 204 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 1659.
Zawartość
18. Pięć esejów o gościnności. [Proza poetycka]. Red.: D. Rott. Pszczyna: Towarzystwo Miłośników Ziemi Pszczyńskiej; Fundacja „Pallas Silesia” 1999, 28 s. Biblioteka Fundacji „Pallas Silesia”, 4.
Zawartość
Adaptacje
teatralne
19. Podróż czterech mężów z Nysy do Barda Śląskiego. [Opowiadanie]. Pszczyna: Towarzystwo Miłośników Ziemi Pszczyńskiej; Fundacja „Pallas Silesia” 2000, 25 s.
Inne formy wydań
20. U-bywać. Człowiek, świat, przyjaźń w twórczości Williama Blake’a. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2001, 608 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 1994.
Zawartość
21. Antygona w świecie korporacji. Rozważania o uniwersytecie i czasach obecnych. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2002, 130 s. Wyd. 2 uzupełnione tamże 2002. Bibliotheca Alia Uniwersa, 3.
22. Revelations of Gloucester: Charles Olson, Fitz Hugh Lane and writing of the place. Frankfurt am Main; Bern: P. Lang 2003, 273 s. Literary and Cultural Theory, 4.
23. Stanisław Dróżdż. Pojęciokształty. Poezja konkretna – słowa, zdania/cyfry, liczby – wzajemne przenikanie = Conceptiforms. Concrete Poetry-words, sentences/digit, numbers – interpenetrating. Galeria Foksal, czerwiec-sierpień 2005. [Katalog wystawy]. Tekst: T. Sławek. Tłum.: J. Holzman. Warszawa: Galeria Foksal MCKiS [Mazowieckie Centrum Kultury i Sztuki] i Autorzy 2005 , [32] s.
24. Olmaryja, czyli O miejscu. Esej na głos i kontrabas. Katowice: Muzeum Historii Katowice; Off Records 2006, 47 s. + płyta CD. Poezja Polska. Wystawienie m.in.: Chorzów, Teatr Rozrywki 2005.
25. Żaglowiec, czyli Przeciw swojskości. Wybór esejów. Wybór: Z. Kadłubek. Słowo wstępne: J. Janeczek. Posłowie: T. Rachwał. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2006, 218 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 2491.
Inne formy wydań
Zawartość
26. Andrzej Szewczyk. Malarstwo na lustrach. [Katalog wystawy]. Galeria Foksal, luty-marzec 2007. Tekst: T. Sławek, J. Jedliński. Warszawa : Galeria Foksal MCKiS [Mazowieckie Centrum Kultury i Sztuki] i Autorzy 2007 , [8] s.
27. Drzewo aniołów. Życie i śmierć Williama Blake’a. Esej na głos i kontrabas. Tekst, deklamacja: T. Sławek. Muzyka: B. Mizerski. Film i oprawa scenograficzna: E. Satalecka. Prapremiera: Katowice, Malarnia Teatru Śląskiego 2007.
28. Ujmować. Henry David Thoreau i wspólnota świata. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2009, 379 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 2726.
Przekłady
angielski
29. Kim jesteśmy? Fragmenty do poezji Georga Trakla. [Interpretacje]. Wstęp: Z. Kadłubek. Katowice: Uniwersytet Śląski 2011, 236 s.
Zawartość
30. NICowanie świata. Zdania z Szekspira. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2012, 388 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 2937.
Nagrody
31. Oikologia. Nauka o domu. [Autorzy:] T. Sławek, A. Kunce, Z. Kadłubek. Katowice: Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Wydawniczych 2013, 196 s. Biblioteka Kwartalnika Kulturalnego „Opcje”.
Zawartość
32. U-chodzić. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2015, 215 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 3310.
Zawartość
33. Esej na głos i kontrabas 1977-2017. [Tekst:] T. Sławek. [Muzyka:] B. Mizerski. Sosnowiec: Drukarnia Progress [2018], 108 s.
34. Nie bez reszty. O potrzebie niekompletności. [Esej]. Mikołów: Instytut Mikołowski 2018, 207 s. Biblioteka Arkadii, 152.
35. Kafka. Życie w przestrzeni bez rozstrzygnięć. Mikołów: Instytut Mikołowski im. R. Wojaczka 2019, 323 s. Biblioteka „Arkadii” – pisma katastroficznego, 166.
Nagrody
36. Oikologia. Powrót. [Autorzy:] A. Kunce, T. Sławek. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2020, 238 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 3845.
Zawartość
37. Śladem zwierząt. O dochodzeniu do siebie. [Esej]. Gdańsk: Fundacja Terytoria Książki 2020, 178 s. Ars Medica ac Humanitas, 2.
38. Umysł rozstrojony. Próby o „Trylogii księżycowej” Jerzego Żuławskiego. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego 2020, 387 s.
Inne formy wydań
39. A jeśli nie trzeba się uczyć... Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2021, 186 s. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 4046. Nowa Edukacja, 1.
40. Na okrężnych drogach. Tłumaczenie literackie i jego światy. Kraków: Karakter; Gdańsk: Instytut Kultury Miejskiej 2021, 237 s.
Inne formy wydań
Zawartość
41. Furia i szlachetniejszy rozum. Próby o „Burzy” Williama Szekspira. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego 2022, 229 s.
Inne formy wydań
Artykuły w czasopismach i książkach zbiorowych, m.in.
Przekłady
Przekłady utworów literackich w antologiach zagranicznych
angielski
Prace redakcyjne
Zob. też Przekłady poz. ↑, ↑, ↑, ↑.
Omówienia i recenzje
• Ankieta dla IBL PAN 2014.