Description
Book SynopsisThis book is also available as a eBook. Buy it from Amazon here.
Using true stories from her own family annals, Wioletta Greg makes a literary journey through the last century, from Poland at the outbreak of the First World War to present-day Britain. In her own selection of verse and prose poems, set mostly in the geographical heart of Europe, she charts two world wars, life under Communism and the ensuing liberation, and her own experiences as a migrant living in the Isle of Wight.
Trade Review"These poems are riddled with overlapping tenses, places and intentions. New life is organised into being, memories are set in order, life on something as uncertain as an 'island' is attempted, as is the writing, 'mid-flight', rather than at rest." Karol Maliszewski "The poetess moved to the UK in 2006 and settled on the Isle of Wight: 'Take me away from this paradise, where I feel as tepid / as tea with milk. Take me, before I evaporate.' She seduces the reader with her childhood memories and the glimpses of post-Communist Poland. But it's the everyday woman's experience portrayed with great maturity and tenderness that makes this book so exceptional." A. M. Bakalar, Wasafiri
Table of ContentsPart I 10 / Dziadek na moscie, lipiec 1914 Grandfather on a bridge, July 1914 / 11 12 / Dziadek jedzie do Warszawy - Grandfather on his way to Warsaw - / 13 16 / Dziadek ucieka ze stalagu - Grandfather escapes a stalag - / 17 18 / Trzynastoletnia w gulagu Thirteen in a gulag / 19 20 / Z puchem With down / 21 22 / Wykopki The digs / 23 24 / Zabawa obreczami Rolling hoops / 25 26 / Ferie Half-term / 27 28 / W szafie babci In grandma's wardrobe / 29 30 / Wszystko o mojej babce All about my grandmother / 31 32 / Pamiec Smieny Smena's memory / 33 34 / Wiersz wielkanocny An Easter verse / 35 36 / Zaginiona Missing / 37 38 / Wiosna, 1986 Spring, 1986 / 39 40 / Ruchy Browna Brownian motion / 41 42 / Majowe fikcje, 1989 May fictions, 1989 / 43 44 / Spoznione dokarmianie pszczol The late feeding of bees / 45 46 / Wszystko o moim ojcu All about my father / 47 48 / Gwiezdne Stargate / 49 50 / Zwijanie Wrapping up / 51 52 / Polowanie na pizmaki Hunting muskrats / 53 54 / Ojciec iluzjonista My father the magician / 55 56 / Pestki Pips / 57 58 / Lekcje plywania Swimming lessons / 59 60 / Iskry Sparks / 61 62 / Bajka o smierci A fairytale about death / 63 64 / Weselne rondo A wedding party / 65 66 / Kolysanka Lullaby / 67 68 / Oczy szerzej zamkniete Eyes shut wider / 69 70 / Narzeczeni wedkuja Lovers angling / 71 72 / Zawiazki Buds / 73 74 / List do kolezanki z Chin A letter to my friend from China / 75 76 / Czasy zespolone Complex times / 77 78 / Lektorzy Readers / 79 80 / Bajka o zyciu A fairytale about life / 81 82 / Bezsennosc w Ryde Sleepless in Ryde / 83 Part II 87 / Notatnik z Wyspy Notes from an island / 87
