POMORSKI Adam

Born on 16 May 1956 in Warsaw; son of the pianist and Polish philologist Hanna Pomorska, who raised him as a single mother. He attended the Tadeusz Czacki Grammar School in Warsaw, where he completed his advanced secondary education in 1975. He then studied sociology at the University of Warsaw (UW). He made his debut in "Literatura na Świecie" in 1975 with translations into Polish of contemporary Russian-language prose (no. 9) and poetry (no. 11). He continued to collaborate with the literary monthly as a translator, publishing pieces in 1975-77, 1981-94 and again from 2012. He also published translations in the periodicals "Odra" (1976-87) and "Twórczość" (from 1980). Between 1979 and 1980, he was chair of the Circle of Young Translators of the Polish Writers' Union (ZLP). He published a volume of poetry in 1983 but did write any further works of literature. He worked as an editor at the Youth Publishing Agency (MAW) in 1983/84 and then at the Czytelnik Publishing Cooperative in 1988/89. He was subsequently employed at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ISP PAN) until 2012. He joined the Polish PEN Club in 1989. In the 1990s he also published literary translations from English and German, including in 1990 the first Polish versions of the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke and in 1993 translations of T.S. Eliot. His translations, articles and reviews appeared in "Dialog", "Kresy", "Kwartalnik Artystyczny", "Rzeczpospolita", "Więź", "Zeszyty Literackie", and "Znak". In 1999, he was appointed vice president of the Polish PEN Club, becoming president President in 2010. He was a member of the jury of the 2008 Cogito Public Media Prize in literature. The prize was funded by Polish Television (TVP) and Polish Radio. In 2010, he was chair of the jury of the Warsaw Literary Premiere Prize (Warszawska Premiera Literacka). From 2010 to 2012 he served on the jury of the Nike Literary Prize. Between 2013 and 2015, he chaired the jury of the Wisława Szymborska Poetry Prize, while in 2014 he joined the chapter of the Tadeusz Boy–Żeleński Translation Work Award of the President of Gdansk and the Honorary Committee of the Krakow Miłosz Festival. In 2011, he defended his doctoral thesis at UW, Anna Achmatowa – „Drogą wszystkiej ziemi”. Poezja. Proza. Dramat , (Anna Akhmatova – "The Way of All the Earth": Poetry, Prose, Drama), which was supervised by Prof. Danuta Ulicka. In recognition of his achievements as a translator, he received the Pegasus Prize from the Coastal Region Żak Club in Gdansk in 1980, the "Literatura na Świecie" prize of 1982 and 1985, the 1994 prize of the Association of Polish Translators (STP), the 1994 Polish PEN Club prize, the Prize of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2006, and the special lifetime achievement award for translation of the periodical "Literatura na Świecie" in 2008. He received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1997, the Bene Merito Honorary Distinction of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2012, and the Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2000. He married the sociologist and translator Barbara Młynarz in 1987. They have a daughter, Weronika (b. 1987). He lives in Warsaw.