{"id":3675,"date":"2026-02-03T08:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/epoka\/the-literary-environment-of-szczecin-1945-1989\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T13:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:40:08","slug":"the-literary-environment-of-szczecin-1945-1989","status":"publish","type":"epoka","link":"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/en\/epoka\/the-literary-environment-of-szczecin-1945-1989\/","title":{"rendered":"The literary environment of Szczecin (1945\u20131989)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The beginning of Polish literary life in Szczecin was marked by the campaign of &#8220;cultural repolonization of the Recovered Territories,&#8221; also known as &#8220;literary settlement.&#8221; Prof. Erazm Ku\u017ama, an eminent literary theorist and historian, considered this project to be &#8220;an artificial creation that disintegrated as quickly as it arose.&#8221; At the same time, he pointed out that the prominent writers who arrived in the city in the 1940s and left after a few years &#8220;gave it more than they took.&#8221; The continuity of this project is visible on the cultural map of Szczecin to this day. Konstanty Ildefons Ga\u0142czy\u0144ski Square, Franciszek Gil Street, the 13 Muses Culture House, and the literary legacies preserved in the Pomeranian Library are its material traces. However, they are also visible in human fates, as Artur Daniel Liskowacki wrote: &#8220;Ryszard Liskowacki came to Szczecin drawn here by Wirpsza (&#8230;). So that I too, here, to put it with a smile, have become, as you can see, an element of this project.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first period in the creation of literary life in the capital of the West Pomeranian region should be associated with the nationwide campaign to relocate creators to the territories newly acquired by Poland, initiated by the Ministry of Culture and and Art. As a result of this campaign, with strong support from local authorities, literary luminaries such as Jerzy Andrzejewski and Konstanty Ildefons Ga\u0142czy\u0144ski came to Szczecin. The promise of receiving German-era villas and houses with gardens lured men and women of letters who had been impoverished by the war and crowded into overpopulated Houses of Writers in \u0141\u00f3d\u017a and Krak\u00f3w. People with very diverse life experiences decided to settle in the city on the Oder: the debuting marine writer and globetrotter Jan Papuga, the acclaimed Lw\u00f3w reporter Franciszek Gil, the &#8220;pimply&#8221; and politicized Wiktor Woroszylski, the poetic and &#8220;Hegelian-bitten&#8221; Witold Wirpsza, the proponent of the mission of &#8220;Poland&#8217;s return to the Oder&#8221; Edmund Osma\u0144czyk, theater reviewer and &#8220;radio man&#8221; Walerian Lachnitt; young poet and lover of legends Tymoteusz Karpowicz; literary critic and Home Army soldier Stanis\u0142aw Telega, and Maria Boniecka, &#8220;escaping from persecution.&#8221; Some of them settled in the G\u0142\u0119bokie district, which Czes\u0142aw Mi\u0142osz, while staying with the Andrzejewskis, would describe as &#8220;the best of all possible worlds,&#8221; adding at the same time that &#8220;arrests barely reached the villas in Szczecin.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_190dd14da9fc7ab6\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>Although the emerging community was not large, due to its recognition and publicistic activity, it influenced the cultural landscape of the Szczecin region. A real problem, pointed out by the first voivode, Leonard Borkowicz, was the lack of cultural institutions, which was counteracted by the establishment of literary clubs. The first of these\u2014the Literary and Artistic Club\u2014was founded in 1946, and its aim was to organize meetings and literary competitions. It was on its initiative that the City of Szczecin award &#8220;for literary and visual arts activity&#8221; was established. A year later, the Intelligentsia Club was created, but the most recognizable one, which exists to this day, was the Creative Associations Club &#8220;13 Muses&#8221;. It was a venue for numerous artistic events and often turbulent discussions. To capture the atmosphere prevailing in the &#8220;13 Muses&#8221; Club, it is worth quoting the following description: &#8220;People would return to the 13 Muses Club, where over coffee and a glass of domestic wine or patriotic pure export vodka, they talked about Vilnius, Lw\u00f3w, and Krak\u00f3w. In the conversations, everything revolved around memories of the good old &#8216;Sygna\u0142y&#8217;, here people most frequently recalled the Jagiellonian University and the aura of the Lw\u00f3w and Krak\u00f3w artistic bohemia, from which Gil, remembering everything, evoked the spirit of the proletarian and folk incantations of Adam Polewka, Borejsza, Kuryluk&#8230; Nina Rydzewska sometimes recalled the invigorating spirits of Warsaw&#8217;s &#8216;Kwadryga&#8217;. Kurecka complained about the lack of critics. Wirpsza tried to break down his life experiences according to the columns of philosophical divisions. Andrzejewski celebrated his thin and tall figure. B\u0105czyk sang and played the banjo. And the one and only Jasiu Papuga demanded sailing safe-conduct passes for writers and visual artists. Telega supported him in this, until he waved his hand at the literary chatter and settled down in the peace of the Provincial Library&#8217;s cupboards and shelves&#8221; (Literary Szczecin. Almanac, 1958).<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The press also served as a field for vibrant and still unconstrained polemics. In the pages of &#8220;Kurier Szczeci\u0144ski&#8221; and &#8220;G\u0142os Szczeci\u0144ski&#8221;, writers passionately debated their role and the conditions in which they had to function. Space for this was also provided by the weekly magazine &#8220;Szczecin&#8221;, active from 1946 to 1948. An important function in promoting regional literature was additionally fulfilled by the &#8220;Polskie Pismo i Ksi\u0105\u017cka&#8221; publishing house, which existed from 1945 to 1950. Beyond the opportunity to express their stance, writers presented their creative work there. This constituted one of their few sources of income\u2014publishing books was a long-term process associated with numerous problems, including financial ones. Creators therefore turned to various activities\u2014they participated in reading campaigns throughout the province, wrote radio broadcasts, and took up jobs in libraries and schools. The lack of public funds for their activities was distressing, and occasionally granted allowances or scholarships did not solve the problem. Writers settled in Szczecin also tried to make their mark in nationwide circulation. The distance and peripherality of the Szczecin center certainly did not make this easier, which influenced the longevity of this literary &#8220;artificial creation.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An important event influencing the functioning of the literary community not only in the West Pomeranian region, but also throughout Poland, was the 4th Congress of the Trade Union of Polish Writers. It took place in January 1949 in Szczecin. Although it was not then that it was decreed that the only correct current in literature was to be socialist realism, this postulate was indicated as binding (the proclamation of socialist realism took place in 1950). W\u0142odzimierz Sokorski, a minister staying in the West Pomeranian capital, uttered the words: &#8220;Just as no creative work exists outside the time and space of its era, so no neutral attitude of a writer exists, despite their often subjective role.&#8221; The period of the &#8220;idyll in G\u0142\u0119bokie&#8221; was coming to an end, and the disintegration of the still unsolidified community and the extreme politicization of creative work were beginning.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_257317279122ad23\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>In November 1950, the Szczecin branch of the Polish Writers&#8217; Union was established (the removal of the word &#8220;professional&#8221; from the association&#8217;s name took place during the aforementioned 4th Congress), which outwardly might have testified to its durability. It was a tiny group: five full members and eight candidates. Ga\u0142czy\u0144ski, the author of <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"346\">Satire on the Ladybug<\/i> written in Szczecin, who after a massive heart attack moved to Warsaw, was no longer in this group at that time. He stayed in the port city for a very short period in 1949, yet held a sentiment and affection for it, which he expressed in several poems. Another literary celebrity of this period, Jerzy Andrzejewski, although active and leading the local branch of the Writers&#8217; Union, was constantly traveling. Fascinated by Marxism and faithful to socialist realism, he wrote the book <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"853\">The Party and the Writer&#8217;s Creativity<\/i> (1952), of which he was later ashamed for the rest of his life, and shortly after its publication, he left Szczecin. In the first half of the 1950s, representatives of the Szczecin center published several works, to mention Maria Boniecka&#8217;s <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1132\">Nad wielkim Zalewem<\/i> (1950), Franciszek Gil&#8217;s <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1177\">Ziemia i Morze<\/i> (1954), and Witold Wirpsza&#8217;s <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1221\">Dziennik Ko\u017cedo<\/i> (1952). However, it became increasingly difficult to function, on the one hand within the shackles of the Stalinist vision of the writers&#8217; role, and on the other hand in a city uninterested in actual support for their activities.<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_45366a6be02a8e87\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>A year before Andrzejewski, &#8220;ardent communist&#8221; Wiktor Woroszylski left Szczecin, and in 1952 Edmund Osma\u0144czyk moved out of the villa in G\u0142\u0119bokie. In the breakthrough &#8220;thaw&#8221; year of 1956, Witold Wirpsza left the city along with his wife Maria Kurecka, a translator and literary critic. The talented poet Tymoteusza Karpowicz had not been in the city since 1949. But nature abhors a vacuum\u2014new residents appeared in the abandoned homes, some with established track records, others &#8220;aspiring&#8221; to the writing profession. Moving into the villa previously owned by the author of <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"573\">Ashes and Diamonds<\/i> was the famous &#8220;Kwadryga&#8221; member Nina Rydzewska and Edmund B\u0105czyk, a miner with literary aspirations. In the mid-1950s, Ryszard Liskowacki\u2014who joined the ranks of the WLP Young Circle\u2014and Ireneusz Gwidon Kami\u0144ski also arrived; both would tie their lives to the city on the Oder and leave a lasting mark on its cultural landscape.<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These events, referred to as the Thaw\u2014namely the destalinization of life and the hope for loosening the totalitarian corset and creative freedom\u2014led to the revival of Szczecin&#8217;s literary community. The supplement to &#8220;G\u0142os Szczeci\u0144ski&#8221; titled &#8220;\u017bycie i Kultura,&#8221; published between 1951 and 1956 and serving primarily as a tool for ideological influence, ceased publication. A symbol of the changes of October 1956 was the establishment of the socio-cultural weekly &#8220;Ziemia i Morze&#8221; (1956\u20131957), whose editor-in-chief became Maria Boniecka (replaced in 1957 by Kazimierz B\u0142ahij). New creators joined the editorial staff: marine writer Jerzy Pachlowski and journalist and man of letters Feliks Fornalczyk, while debuting poets Helena Raszka and J\u00f3zef Bursewicz published in its pages. The latter was also the leader of &#8220;Metafora,&#8221; the first and most important poetic group in Szczecin, which existed from 1956 to 1967.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"928\" src=\"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-39-1024x928.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3088\" srcset=\"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-39-1024x928.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-39-300x272.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-39-768x696.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-39.jpeg 1245w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Literary Group Metafora: from the left: Andrzej Dzier\u017canowski, Henryk Livor-Piotrowski, J\u00f3zef Bursewicz (photo by Janusz Krzymi\u0144ski, from the collection of the Pomeranian Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_8312c38bd8925907\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>The group organized workshops, performed together in the press, and published poetry collections. It was also associated with Andrzej Dzier\u017canowski, Ryszard Grabowski, and, temporarily, Edward Balcerzan. This was a time of high activity for young creators, and among their publishing achievements was the already mentioned <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"323\">Szczecin literacki. Almanach<\/i> [Literary Szczecin. Almanac], edited by I.G. Kami\u0144ski. Jerzy Madejski pointed out that this anthology &#8220;constitutes a representative selection of the works of writers from Szczecin and the region&#8221; and &#8220;documents an important moment in the history of Poland, as well as in the history of the region\u2014the year 1956.&#8221;<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_11242f5075e6b853\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>The turn of the 1950s and 1960s was a time of dramatic departures\u2014in 1958 Nina Rydzewska passed away while struggling with homelessness, and two years later death took Franciszek Gil, who had been living in extreme poverty and abandonment. Jan Papuga, the Szczecin Hemingway, searched for a path for himself, with his successive attempts to establish literary phalansteries either on Wolin Island or in the Bieszczady Mountains ending in failure. However, in the 1960s, two volumes of his short stories were published: <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"519\">Guadulajara! Guadulajara!<\/i> (1965) and <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"556\">Rio Papagaio<\/i> (1969). Yet, as mentioned earlier, a new generation of Szczecin creators came to the fore, setting the tone for the community. In the 1960s, Katarzyna Suchodolska debuted as a prose writer\u2014first with a collection of short stories titled <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"806\">Jezioro czterech \u0142ab\u0119dzi<\/i> (1960), and subsequently with her acclaimed collection about displaced persons, <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"911\">Spotkanie w Wolkenbergu<\/i> (1965). Meanwhile, Ryszard Liskowacki&#8217;s output from this period is impressive and multi-genre; in the 1960s he published poems (<i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1063\">Wi\u0119c przekora<\/i>, 1962), plays, and film scripts. Above all, however, he should be remembered as a prose writer. He wrote numerous novels (<i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1199\">Po tamtej stronie \u017cycia<\/i>, 1960; <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1230\">Granice pami\u0119ci<\/i>, 1961; <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1253\">Dzie\u0144 si\u00f3dmy, dzie\u0144 pierwszy<\/i>, 1963; <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1289\">Powr\u00f3t z tamtego brzegu<\/i>, 1966), and it is also worth noting his novels for young people (including <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1388\">Wodzu, wyspa jest twoja<\/i>, 1965 and <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1422\">Powr\u00f3t na wysp\u0119<\/i>, 1967). Quoting S\u0142awomir Iwasi\u00f3w, &#8220;today Ryszard Liskowacki&#8217;s prose could be read in three ways: 1) as a record of historical events; 2) as an (auto)biography; 3) as a thematically coherent concept of telling a story about a certain moment in the recent history of Szczecin, but with expanded wartime and post-war plot threads.&#8221;<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_6974088d73d39139\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>These are frequent motifs in the works of local writers, all of whom were, after all, from &#8220;somewhere else&#8221; and brought, or were just beginning to create, personal narratives. They also turned toward their new port, maritime home, which allowed them to engage with West Pomeranian themes. Jerzy Pachlowski&#8217;s collection of short stories <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"336\">Delfiny id\u0105 pod wiatr<\/i> (1963) certainly belongs to the canon of Szczecin maritime literature, and this subject matter was strongly present in both literature and publicism. In the thematic supplement to &#8220;Kurier Szczeci\u0144ski&#8221; entitled &#8220;Kurier Morski&#8221; (1961\u20131965), numerous literary works were published by, among others, the marine writer Wies\u0142aw Andrzejewski. Meanwhile, in the Sunday supplement to &#8220;G\u0142os Szczeci\u0144ski&#8221; called &#8220;7-my G\u0142os Tygodnia&#8221; (1957\u20131972), publications were contributed by, among others, Adolf Momot, co-creator of the &#8220;Dwie twarze&#8221; literary group and author of the debut novel <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"931\">Twarze<\/i> (1962). For three years, issues of the monthly magazine &#8220;Szczecin&#8221; with the subtitle &#8220;Szczecin literacki&#8221; (1959\u20131962) were also published, edited by Ireneusz Gwidon Kami\u0144ski, author of widely read historical novels (<i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1154\">Czerwony Sok\u00f3\u0142<\/i>, 1957, 1966; <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"1182\">M\u015bciciel przyp\u0142ywa z Rugii<\/i>, 1958, 1966). An important role was also played by another specialized periodical, &#8220;Rocznik Kultury i Sztuki&#8221; \/ &#8220;Vineta&#8221; (1965\u20131970), published by the Polish Writers&#8217; Union in Szczecin. The editor of the first issue was journalist, writer, and literary critic Micha\u0142 Misiorny, and its pages were dominated by matters concerning the literary community.<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"982\" height=\"646\" src=\"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-40.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3087\" srcset=\"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-40.jpeg 982w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-40-300x197.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-40-768x505.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 982px) 100vw, 982px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From the left: Eljasz Rajzman, Katarzyna Suchodolska, Jakub Zonsztajn in front of the Pomeranian Dukes&#8217; Castle (from the collection of the Pomeranian Library, MS Rkps818)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regarding the 1960s, statements emerge that &#8220;there was literature then, but there was no literary movement.&#8221; During the period of &#8220;minor stabilization&#8221; defined by the rule of W\u0142adys\u0142aw Gomu\u0142ka, First Secretary of the PZPR, the conflict intensified between creators and authorities who imposed the directions of cultural policy. Restrictions on paper allocations for printing books and magazines and the tightening of censorship became the reason for the famous &#8220;Letter of 34&#8221; written in 1964, signed by prominent figures of cultural and academic life and demanding &#8220;the right to criticism, free discussion, and reliable information.&#8221; The demands contained in the letter pointed to the ailments plaguing the entire creative community, which of course does not mean that all of its representatives were ready for open opposition to the system. During the next crisis, namely March 1968, Szczecin&#8217;s creators mostly supported Gomu\u0142ka in his anti-Semitic and anti-intellectual campaign. Its consequence was the forced departure of poet and prose writer Anna Frajlich, associated with Szczecin until 1960, whose debut took place before leaving the city, but who entered her true creative path only after leaving Poland. Szczecin, the city of her childhood and early youth, remained for her an &#8220;innocent&#8221; place.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The &#8220;minor stabilization&#8221; also brought subsequent Congresses of Writers of the Western and Northern Territories, two of which\u2014in 1961 and 1967\u2014were held in the West Pomeranian capital. During this period, the local branch of the Polish Writers&#8217; Union and its affiliated Young Circle continued to operate; the I.K. Ga\u0142czy\u0144ski Festivals of Contemporary Polish Poetry were held; literary contests were announced and awards were granted. As Kazimierz Koz\u0142owski points out, &#8220;nationwide criticism was drawn to the work of Helena Raszka, author of poetry collections (&#8230;), as well as the poetic output of Joanna Kulmowa. Two poetry books by Eljasz Rajzman, who lived in Szczecin and wrote in Yiddish, were translated into Polish.&#8221; Writers sought publishers in Pozna\u0144, Gdynia, and Warsaw, where their books were published. They worked in newspaper, radio, and television editorial offices, and held positions in offices and culture-related institutions. They were teachers, researchers, librarians, and bibliophiles. They wrote reviews and plays, took part in readings and congresses, and co-created the cultural and academic image of the city and region. For the most part, they did not enter into a collision course with the cultural policy created by the PZPR, to which they also belonged. Although attitudes of opposition began to emerge in crisis situations.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_c2c3fe0f93a54221\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>This was the case during the workers&#8217; revolt of December 1970. Ryszard Liskowacki, head of the local television center, rejected the party ban on broadcasting films documenting the workers&#8217; uprising and lost his position as editor. The poet Helena Raszka dedicated a volume of her poems, <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"288\">Liczba mnoga<\/i> [Plural], to the Szczecin shipyard workers and refused to remove it\u2014for this decision, she was subjected to a publishing ban. Jerzy Pachlowski was placed under surveillance by the Security Service for his support of the strikers. However, these attitudes were exceptional and did not provoke widespread support within the Szczecin community, which was entering the decade defined by Edward Gierek&#8217;s rule. For Ireneusz Gwidon Kami\u0144ski, multi-term president of the Szczecin branch of the Polish Writers&#8217; Union, the ties between politics and literature were obvious, as he expressed in the pages of the socio-cultural monthly <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"924\">Spojrzenia<\/i> [Glances] (1971\u20131974): &#8220;there are no matters in contemporary life that are not connected with politics.&#8221;<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"451\" height=\"322\" src=\"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-38.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3086\" srcset=\"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-38.jpeg 451w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-38-300x214.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From the left: Stanis\u0142aw Wit Wili\u0144ski, Helena Raszka, and Ryszard Liskowacki \u2013 early 1970s (photo by Wanda Cie\u015blak, from the collection of the Pomeranian Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_1b82b2102b80e155\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>&#8220;Spojrzenia&#8221; also provided space for other stances. For example, Ryszard Liskowacki, in his cyclically published <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"113\">Letters to Comrade N<\/i>, criticized party radicals. However, the magazine primarily featured texts of a literary or literary-critical nature. The periodical also organized plebiscites for the book of the year, and in 1978, the debut novel <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"349\">Homunculus z tryptyku<\/i> (1977) by Britta Wuttke was recognized as such. The author had submitted her work to a contest organized on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the &#8220;Recovered Territories&#8221; and won second place. The story of a German woman who chose to be Polish not only received positive reviews from critics, but also aligned with the expectations placed on literature at the time (which does not diminish Wuttke&#8217;s literary talent).<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the 1970s, the Szczecin branch of the Polish Association of Marine Writers was vigorously active\u2014it was the initiator of the &#8220;Szczecin on the Oder and the Baltic&#8221; competition for radio plays and short stories with regional themes. Maritime literature was also appreciated by the librarians of the Pomeranian Library (an institution that operated until 1994 under the name of the Provincial and City Public Library), who honored Jerzy Pachlowski with the Golden Exlibris in 1977. In the same year, this largest West Pomeranian library began organizing the Szczecin Book Days, also initiating publishing activities. In the Literary Library, headed by Halina Lizy\u0144czyk and Bogdan Twardochleb, debut texts by creators such as Dariusz Bitner and Tadeusz \u017bukowski were published. The Pomeranian Library also turned toward writers who had previously been associated with Szczecin\u2014their legacies began flowing into its collections. Thanks to this, a study dedicated to the memory of Konstanty Ildefons Ga\u0142czy\u0144ski and the Stefan Flukowski Room were established. This activity resulted in &#8220;the most protective agency toward the literary community within the Pomeranian Library,&#8221; namely the Literary Museum, which was founded in 1985.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The imposition of martial law in 1981 also left its mark on Szczecin&#8217;s creators. The Polish Writers&#8217; Union was suspended and subsequently dissolved; although later reactivated under the same name, it operated under a different management and with a different membership. The &#8220;new&#8221; Union was rejected by a large group of writers who, in place of the &#8220;old&#8221; Union repressed by the regime, established the Polish Writers&#8217; Association (the Szczecin branch of the PWA was established after the transition, in 1992). Joanna Kulmowa, who lived in Strumiany near Goleni\u00f3w, stood out for her oppositional activity, publishing her works in the underground Solidarity press. The poet Helena Raszka was also subjected to a publishing ban.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_4b0a244faa1b3d18\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>Nevertheless, literary life went on. Successive periodicals were founded: the weekly magazine <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"94\">Morze i Ziemia<\/i> (1982\u20131992) and the quarterly <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"139\">Mi\u0119dzy innymi<\/i> (1984\u20131988). Jacek Sawaszkiewicz, a science fiction writer with no competition in the region, gained immense readership popularity and won Golden Exlibrises. His three-part <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"326\">Akashic Chronicle<\/i> was recognized as the &#8220;Szczecin book of the forty-year period.&#8221; A breath of fresh air from the drab reality was also provided by the fairy-tale novels of Zbigniew Belin-Brzozowski: <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"525\">Kilka czarodziejskich historii<\/i> (1988) and <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"567\">Z\u0142ota kareta<\/i> (1988).<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/SaSEsjGbHhzqkSW68\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"687\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gemini_Generated_Image_b53pglb53pglb53p-2-687x1024.png\" alt=\"Quiz\" class=\"wp-image-2802\" style=\"width:330px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gemini_Generated_Image_b53pglb53pglb53p-2-687x1024.png 687w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gemini_Generated_Image_b53pglb53pglb53p-2-201x300.png 201w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gemini_Generated_Image_b53pglb53pglb53p-2-768x1145.png 768w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gemini_Generated_Image_b53pglb53pglb53p-2-1030x1536.png 1030w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gemini_Generated_Image_b53pglb53pglb53p-2-1374x2048.png 1374w, https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Gemini_Generated_Image_b53pglb53pglb53p-2.png 1696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 687px) 100vw, 687px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_20c5ce7a2ca5cdfb\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel md-content enable-luminous-fast-follows enable-updated-hr-color stronger\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-busy=\"false\" aria-live=\"polite\">&#13;\n<div>In the last decade of the existence of the Polish People&#8217;s Republic, the &#8220;Glob&#8221; publishing house was established in Szczecin, specializing in maritime literature and supporting creators. The publishing house organized contests, awarded prizes for the best books, and hosted expert discussions. It was associated with the &#8220;Young Critics&#8217; Circle,&#8221; run by the literary theorist and historian Miros\u0142aw Lalak. The 1980s also brought emerging personalities of the literary world\u2014Inga Iwasi\u00f3w, so recognizable and honored today, debuted with a review in <i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"547\">Nowe Ksi\u0105\u017cki<\/i>, while Artur Daniel Liskowacki, awarded in poetry competitions, had his book debut (<i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"644\">Balbaryk i Skrzydlate Psy<\/i>, 1982). Their names would shine in full light in the new reality defined by the systemic transformation of 1989.<\/div><br\/><\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More:<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">S\u0142awomir Iwasi\u00f3w, <em>Wodowanie. Literatura i inne media w Szczecinie. Lata 60. XX wieku<\/em>, Krak\u00f3w: TAiWPN Uniwersitas 2023<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kazimierz Koz\u0142owski, <em>\u017bycie kulturalne Szczecina w latach 1945\u20131980. Szkic historyczny<\/em>, Szczecin: Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne. Oddzia\u0142 w Szczecinie; Ksi\u0105\u017cnica Szczeci\u0144ska 1994<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Erazm Ku\u017ama, Maria Kowalewska, <em>Pisarze Pomorza Zachodniego. Informator<\/em>, Gdynia: Wydawnictwo Morskie 1967<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Artur Daniel Liskowacki, Bogdan Twardochleb, <em>Przybysze i przestrzenie. Szkice o pisarzach szczeci\u0144skich<\/em>, Szczecin-Bezrzecze: Wydawnictwo Forma 2021<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Literatura na Pomorzu Zachodnim do ko\u0144ca XX wieku. Przewodnik encyklopedyczny<\/em>, red. Inga Iwasi\u00f3w, Erazm Ku\u017ama, Szczecin: Kurier-Press 2003<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Katarzyna Rembacka, <em>\u201eOsadnictwo literackie\u201d Leonarda Borkowicza czy szczeci\u0144ska ods\u0142ona \u201erepolonizacji kulturalnej Ziem Odzyskanych\u201d prowadzonej w latach czterdziestych XX w.?<\/em>, \u201eDzieje Najnowsze\u201d 2019, nr 1<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Katarzyna Rembacka<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3674,"parent":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false},"kategoria-epoki":[70,75],"class_list":["post-3675","epoka","type-epoka","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","kategoria-epoki-modern-times","kategoria-epoki-monographic"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"kategoria-epoki":[{"value":70,"label":"Modern times"},{"value":75,"label":"Monographic"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-39-1024x928.jpeg",1024,928,true],"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/epoka\/3675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/epoka"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/epoka"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"kategoria-epoki","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiapomorza.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kategoria-epoki?post=3675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}