The municipal stage of the 13th Lower Silesian “Pegazik” Recitation Competition took place on 4 March at the Pegaz club. The competition is intended for pupils in grades 4–6 of primary school. Twenty-two reciters took part in the municipal stage.
The jury (comprising Krystyna Raszka, Maria Sobolska and Ryszarda Wołowicka) awarded three main prizes and four distinctions. The first prize went to Grzegorz Oślak from Primary School No. 5, who presented Czesław Janczarski’s poem “Morning in the Forest”. Justyna Szabłowska from Primary School No. 3 took second place for her very good interpretation of Wisława Szymborska’s “A Conversation with a Stone”. The jury members awarded third prize to Julia Maśnicka from Primary School No. 4, who presented Łukasz Dębski’s poem “Hippopotamus”. The distinctions went to: Kamila Kamińska (Primary School No. 4), Michał Krawczewski (Primary School No. 5), Daniel Popek (Primary School No. 5) and Bartosz Gajda (Primary School No. 1).
The young reciters chose texts by both Polish and foreign authors—poems as well as prose excerpts. “We primarily considered interpretation, spoken-word technique and the choice of repertoire. We assessed whether the child understood the selected text,” Maria Sobolska, a Polish-language teacher and jury member, told Boleslawiec.org. “The standard at this year’s Pegazik was even. There were no fireworks,” she added.
According to Maria Sobolska, a common mistake among the reciters was an excessively fast pace. However, as she herself acknowledged, competitions of this kind are extremely valuable. “The participants have to overcome their own stage fright. Stand before their peers, appear in the middle of the room, exposing themselves to comments from other children. And they have to face that,” the jury member stressed.
After the competition, there was a meeting with Ryszard Adam Gruchawka, a writer of fairy tales and prose from Stara Oleszna. The artist said that while staying in Ireland he had not forgotten about Polish children. He noted that although the Polish language sounds like a whistle to the Irish, the inhabitants of the Emerald Isle would change their minds if they only had the opportunity to listen to the competition’s participants. He also added that a writer should fight for the beauty of our native language and be responsible for what he writes.
Bolesławiec will be represented at the county stage of the competition by: Grzegorz Oślak, Justyna Szabłowska, Julia Maśnicka, Kamila Kamińska and Michał Krawczewski.
Municipal stage
Children from primary schools in the rural municipality of Bolesławiec presented viewers with a wide selection of poems. “My Princess Sister” by Danuta Wawiłow, “Not Every Winter Is the Same” by Aleksander Rymkiewicz, “The Frog and the Ox” by Ludwik Jerzy Kern and “In Abundance” by Wisława Szymborska were just some of the texts performed at the municipal stage of the “Pegazik” Recitation Competition, held on 3 March in the GOKiS hall in Kruszyn.
Each of the twenty-nine participants presented their own interpretation of a poem outside the required-reading canon. The competition committee, comprising Helena Szymula, director of the Municipal School Services Centre, and Ewa Zbroja, director of the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre, decided to honour five reciters:
- Karolina Błotna from the Primary School in Brzeźnik
- jointly: Kamila Korczowski and Marta Reguła from the Primary School in Brzeźnik
- jointly: Wojciech Górniak from the Primary School in Żeliszów and Justyna Orłowska from the Primary School in Dąbrowa.
The remaining participants received commemorative certificates and consolation prizes.
(information from GA/GOKiS in Bolesławiec based in Kruszyn)