Anniversary and competition: Henryk Bereska turns 100!

Anniversary and competition: Henryk Bereska turns 100!

June 12, 2025 marks the birthday of Henryk Bereska, who would have turned 100 next year. On the occasion of this special anniversary, the Karl Dedecius Foundation is organizing a German-Polish translation competition at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). This competition is about the literary translation of ten aphorisms from Bereska, which deal with essential topics such as coming to terms with the past, laziness in thinking and alcohol consumption. The aim is to underline the relevance of Bereska's writings for today and to make his messages accessible to a wider audience reports the European University Viadrina.

Participation in the competition is open to anyone who has not previously published any literary translations. The deadline for entries is July 15th. The winners will be announced on October 15 during the “Henryk Bereska – a man in between” conference. The best submission will be rewarded with non-cash prizes and an invitation to the conference. This event aims to honor Bereska's life and work and secure him the place in literary discourse that he deserves.

Memory of Karl Dedecius

In parallel with these activities, the importance of Karl Dedecius, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday on May 20, 2021, will also be remembered. In honor of his contribution to German-Polish literature, the Cultural Foundation of German Expellees organized a conference entitled “Understanding and communication: German-Polish literary relations in the 20th and 21st centuries”. This conference took place from September 8th to 10th, 2021 at the Collegium Polonicum in Słubice. Thomas Konhäuser, Managing Director of the Cultural Foundation, opened the event, which also honored Dedecius' contributions to understanding between Germany and Poland reports the cultural foundation.

A highlight of the conference was a keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Peter Oliver Loew, who spoke about Dedecius’ influence on German-Polish literary relations after 1945. Other panels addressed topics such as “space” and “identity,” in which well-known scholars contextualized new insights into the pragmatization of metaphors and the role of literature in a changing world. The event ended with a city tour that led participants to an exhibition about the return of prisoners of war and civilian internees and the importance of places like Danzig/Gdańsk as places of remembrance supplements the cultural foundation.

Awards for translation achievements

A notable event in the cultural landscape is the awarding of the Karl Dedecius Prize, which will take place on May 24, 2024 in Darmstadt. The award goes to Lothar Quinkenstein and Urszula Poprawska for their outstanding achievements in the field of translation. Quinkenstein translates Polish literature into German, while Poprawska translates works from German into Polish. Both award winners are committed to the German-Polish cultural dialogue reports Uepo.

The Karl Dedecius Prize is endowed with 10,000 euros each and is awarded every two years to a German and a Polish translator. Promoting exchange between cultures is one of the core tasks of the Karl Dedecius Foundation, which was founded in 2013. The previous award winners include well-known personalities who have made a significant contribution to strengthening intercultural understanding through their translation work.