After several years, the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre – International Ceramics Centre resumed meetings from the “People Worth Getting to Know” series. This time, the invited guest was Bolesławiec resident Iwona Banach.
Ms Banach spoke about herself and shared the story of her life with those present. She was born, educated and raised in Bolesławiec. After studying at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, she moved with her husband to Puławy, where she worked as a teacher and French translator. She gladly took advantage of the opportunities to travel afforded by her work as a translator.
Her first reviewer was her mother. The book “Pocałunek Fauna” was written while she was still living in Puławy and was partly an expression of her longing for Bolesławiec. The novel “Chwast” was published in 2005 and was based on the experiences of the author, who is raising a child with a disability. The book gained recognition from readers and critics alike, as did her subsequent publications. Thanks to the book “Szczęśliwy pech”, for which she received the main prize in a literary competition organised by the “Nasza Księgarnia” publishing house, Iwona Banach signed a contract under which she published several more books. The latest of these is “Czarci krąg”, which appeared on the book market last week.
The Bolesławiec native also explained what the process of translating other authors’ publications looks like. Ms Banach translates books in various genres, but, as she admits, she will not undertake translating poetry because she does not understand it. The discussion also touched on the author’s love of words and the evolution and modernisation of language.
Iwona Banach admitted that she loves the internet and uses it actively. She gathers information there for her books and translations. Recently, she began writing the ZASTRONIEC blog. She is also active on the “Książka zamiast kwiatka” portal, where she reviews the work of other writers; the portal promotes books by Polish authors.
As meeting host Danuta Maślicka announced, in autumn the “People Worth Getting to Know” series will welcome Olga Tokarczuk.
