A quartet of Austrian poets met with students of I Liceum Ogólnokształcące on Friday, October 2. Gertrude Grossegger, Marcus Poettler, Helwig Brunner and Markus Jaroschka were invited to Poland as part of the Days of Styria in Lower Silesia, organized by the Marshal’s Office.
“I’m glad this meeting took place,” Gertrude Grossegger tells IstotneInformacje.pl. “The young people showed us a great deal of warmth. They were very engaged. I think this meeting will be an inspiration for both sides,” she adds. The Austrian is a teacher by profession. “Over time, however, writing became increasingly important. It became more and more difficult to reconcile the two. That is why I now mainly focus on writing,” the poet smiles.
During Friday’s meeting, the students of I LO tried their hand at creating poetry in Goethe’s language. “I’m interested in poetry myself and I write poems. Today, for the first time, I had the opportunity to write something in German. It was an amazing experience,” says Ilona Grzyb. “It was truly wonderful,” adds Angelika Grütz. “I love the Austrian accent in German. I’m glad I took part in this meeting. Although, to be honest, I prefer Polish poetry. Polish is definitely more melodic than German.”
“We have fantastic young people,” says Katarzyna Żak, deputy head of I LO. “The Austrian guests were surprised by the level of our students and their openness. As you can see, this way of promoting the German language and poetry works.”
Some participants in Friday’s meeting see their future connected with the German language. Angelika intends to study German philology in Wrocław, while Ilona plans to study at the University of Hanover. “Many of our graduates have chosen German universities,” says Katarzyna Żak. “This is a generation for whom being European means being open to the world.”
Will cooperation between Styria and Lower Silesia continue? “I hope so,” emphasizes Gertrude Grossegger. “The politicians we spoke with in Wrocław realize how important this kind of interregional cooperation is. We would be very happy if we could host young people and teachers from Bolesławiec.”
(information ii)