To see a poem. On the visual power of poetry / creative event

Poetry! How does it respond to contemporary problems? How to read it? Are there specific words that fit poetry? Are there ones that don’t? What do poems have in common with photographs? Can poems be drawn? And how do you actually start writing poetry?

We would like to invite you to a meeting with Małgorzata Lebda, winner of the Wisława Szymborska Award, the most important poetry prize in Poland. The event will include a lecture and a workshop. In her accessible talk, the author will present the relationship between visuality and poetry. She will refer to Roland Barthes’ theory of the studium and punctum, which allowed him to interpret visual materials. In the workshop part, we’ll focus on interpretation and working with words. Together we will explore the possible potential hidden in a poem and try to write one. In this way, we will immerse ourselves in the world of creativity and attentiveness to words.

We will also think about the possible place of nature and climate change in poetry. We will reflect on how the environment, forests, and rivers closest to us, are treated. We will try to come up with ways to write about this and consider how small gestures can change the surrounding reality.