Krzysztof Majer at Najlepsza | PREMIERE | Denis Johnson's "Angels"

About the event

With the utmost pleasure, we invite you to the premiere of Denis Johnson's outstanding novel "Angels" (Karakter). Translator of the book Krzysztof Majer will be interviewed by Łukasz Zych (Najlepsza Księgarnia). The event's partner is Wydawnictwo Karakter. 📚 During the event: - Opportunity to ask the translator questions - Purchase the book and get it signed 🎥 The conversation will be streamed live on our Facebook. Free entry! ABOUT THE BOOK: She, with her young daughters, escapes from an abusive husband. He, a former Marine, rushes forward with no clear purpose. They meet on a bus that will traverse the vastness of America for many days. Their fates intertwine in a toxic embrace. Denis Johnson's debut novel already contains everything characteristic of his work: protagonists cast to the margins of social life who, willingly or not, explore the darkest realms of human experience, the landscape of American suburbs and towns with cheap bars, rundown motels, and an atmosphere of defeat hovering over them, a laconic style that extracts poetry from the colloquial and trivial. Johnson masterfully and empathetically deconstructs the American myth, revealing the horror of existence and the loneliness of people no one wants to remember. Krzysztof Majer's translation brilliantly captures Denis Johnson's unique style. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born in 1949, died in 2017. Writer, poet, and playwright, considered one of the most outstanding creators of American literature. His distinctive concise language combined with the ability to create striking images and scenes of unforgettable emotional intensity ensures his enduring popularity among readers and other writers. Twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, he won the National Book Award in 2007 for the novel Tree of Smoke (Polish edition: Drzewo Dymu, 2009). Karakter has published two collections of his stories: Jesus' Son (2020) and The Largesse of the Sea Maiden (2022). ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR: Krzysztof Majer is a recognized and award-winning translator and an assistant professor at the Department of North American Literature and Culture at the University of Łódź. He has translated works by Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Michael Herr, Herman Melville, Michael Chabon, Patti Smith, Patrick deWitt, and Bill Gaston, among others. Additionally, he serves as the editorial secretary of the journal "Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture," and since 2014, he has collaborated with the journal "Canadian Literature" (University of British Columbia) as a reviewer of scholarly literature and literary prose. He is a member of the Association of Literary Translators and the Polish Association for Canadian Studies. Born in Bydgoszcz, raised in Łódź, he has lived in Poznań for the past ten years. 📍 Location: Najlepsza Księgarnia Cieszkowskiego 1/3, entrance from Słowackiego Żoliborz, Warsaw