Wyczekiwana i zapomniana. O Antologii poezji polskiej na obczyźnie 1939–1999 Bogdana Czaykowskiego
The article presents the genesis, structure and reception of one of the most interesting anthologies of poetry published after 1989. The author looks back at the attempts at construing similar anthologies of Polish emigration poetry, made already during World War 2, then in the following decades of development of Polish literature abroad. He discusses the early attempts at creating the anthology by Bogdan Czaykowski, then the concept, structure and criteria used to choose the pieces included in his 2002 anthology of Polish poetic texts written in a foreign land between 1939 and 1999 (Antologia poezji polskiej na obczyźnie 1939–1999). The article also discusses the critical reception of the volume and provides an overview of the most important arguments it raised. The conclusion reflects on the diversity of opinions on the anthology, pointing to the controversies it brought as well as to its incontestable merits. Those factors precisely contributed to the anthology, so long awaited by the emigration circles, falling into almost complete oblivion within fifteen years’ time.
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