Szymborska achieved worldwide recognition after receiving the 1996 Nobel Prize "for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality."
Since then, her works have been translated into more than 40 languages.
Szymborska died on February 1, 2012, in the southern Polish city of Kraków, where she spent most of her life.
A year before her death at the age of 88 she received the Order of the White Eagle, the highest Polish state distinction.
To mark the anniversary of Szymborska’s death, the MOCAK gallery in Kraków has mounted an exhibition documenting the poet’s life and literary career. The exhibition features numerous Polish and foreign editions of her poetry, her biographies, portraits as well as her awards and distinctions.
In her poetry, Szymborska was keen to employ literary devices such as ironic precision, paradox, contradiction, and understatement.
Her output is relatively modest, numbering fewer than 350 poems. When asked why she had published so few poems, she said, "I have a trash can in my home."
(mk/gs)