A meeting with writer Maryla Hempowicz took place on August 18 at the Orange pub. The artist read an excerpt from her latest novel, “Julia and the Men.” As she said herself, this is her first work intended for adult readers.
Maryla Hempowicz writes mainly about women. In her texts, as Józefa Witas said, “a woman is more than merely an addition to a man.” Until now, she has written mainly for girls of upper-secondary school age. In the writer’s view, this is the period when important life decisions are made and one faces major emotional dilemmas.
She would describe her latest novel as “a novel of manners with elements of romance,” although the publisher also found elements of satire in it. The inspiration for the author of “Julia...” can be anything: life, a newspaper article, the subconscious, meeting someone or overhearing a conversation somewhere. She admitted that she wants her works to be “light, interesting and moving.” The very act of creation makes a writer a “little demiurge.” Sometimes the characters in a novel take control of their author. But, as Maryla Hempowicz added, this happens extremely rarely in her case.
Maryla Hempowicz is the author of books such as “Krystyna,” “Bogna,” “Karolino pamiętaj,” “Ona była modelką,” and the nursery rhyme book “Dzielny statek.” She is currently associated with the Baltic Sea Culture Centre in Gdańsk. She is involved in community work. She is a member of Zonta International, an elite charitable organization bringing together around 30,000 women worldwide, also referred to as “women’s Lions” or “women’s Rotary.”
Night Reading with Distinguished Guests
The Friday “Night Reading,” organized in Bolesławiec for the first time, also on the initiative of Józefa and Marek Witas, was similarly intimate. The meeting began at 9:30 p.m. At the Agora bookstore, actor Jan Bledzki read an excerpt from “Lux perpetua,” the final volume of Andrzej Sapkowski’s trilogy, in which the writer describes the massacre carried out by the Hussites in our town in 1429. The actor also recalled another historical episode important to Bolesławiec—the Napoleonic Wars. He read the introduction to “The 1813 Campaign” by Mariusz Olczak.
Nevertheless, the highlight of the evening was the reading of texts about our town by people who had never appeared in such a role before and had previously been associated with entirely different activities. Thus, President of Bolesławiec Piotr Roman took on the role of Napoleon. Jerzy Małachowski, spokesman for the District Starosty’s Office, played one of the commanders of the Napoleonic forces. Meanwhile, an excerpt about the death of Mikhail Kutuzov was presented by the Bolesławiec District Starosta himself, Cezary Przybylski. As could be heard, in an era of declining readership, it is important that the example come from the top.
During “Night Reading,” an excerpt from Iwona Banach’s novel “The Faun’s Kiss” was also presented. Its protagonist returns to the magical city of her childhood—Bolesławiec itself. Józef Herbut, who publishes, among other places, in the weekly “Angora,” read two of his poems about our town. Everyone gathered agreed that the idea of meetings of this kind was successful and worth continuing.
(GA information)