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Poet Urszula Kozioł wins top Polish literary award

07.10.2024 10:00
Poet Urszula Kozioł has won Poland’s prestigious Nike literary prize.
Audio
Urszula Kozioł
Urszula KoziołPAP/Radek Pietruszka

Kozioł received the award at a ceremony in Warsaw on Sunday for her poetry collection Raptularz, which reflects on the fragility of nature and human life.

The 93-year-old was presented with a prestigious statuette designed by artist Gustaw Zemła, along with a cash prize of PLN 100,000 (EUR 23,000, USD 23,000).

Meanwhile, Michał Witkowski's Wiara. Autobiografia, an autobiographical book in which the author recalls the first 15 years of his life in communist-era Poland and the post-communist realities of the early 1990s, claimed the readers' choice award at the ceremony at the Warsaw University Library on Sunday night.

Seven books were in the running for the top prize this year, including two novels and two volumes of poetry.

The Nike prize has been given out since 1997 to authors working in various genres.

Writers who have won the award in the past include Nobel Prize laureates Czesław Miłosz and Olga Tokarczuk.

Last year the award went to writer and dramatist Zyta Rudzka for her book Ten się śmieje, kto ma zęby.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, TVP

Click on the audio player above to listen to a report by Radio Poland's Agnieszka Bielawska.