What do the places close to Karen Blixen, Simone de Beauvoir, Witold Gombrowicz, José Saramago, or Günter Grass look like today?
About searching the world for places particularly connected to the history of literature, material traces, and memorabilia of great writers, about extraordinary journeys inspired by books and the biographies of their creators speaks: MARZENA MRÓZ-BAJON, writer, traveler, author of two books 'Writers' Houses.'
Interviewed by: Marta Kuligowska
September 18, Wednesday, 7:00 PM
Big Book Cafe MDM
ul. Koszykowa 34/50
free admission
Come or watch online!
Evening partner: Marginesy Publishing
Order the premiere book with an autograph!
https://ksiegarnia.bigbookcafe.pl/pl/p/Domy-pisarzy.-Odslona-druga-Marzena-Mroz-Bajon-KSIAZKA-Z-AUTOGRAFEM/3551
We will ship after the meeting.
The book 'Writers' Houses,' published in 2021, can also be found in our bookstore:
https://ksiegarnia.bigbookcafe.pl/pl/p/Domy-pisarzy-Marzena-Mroz-Bajon-/772
ABOUT THE BOOK 'WRITERS' HOUSES II':
Here is another installment of the literary odyssey: tireless in her passion, Marzena Mróz-Bajon takes readers on an inspiring journey in the footsteps of great writers again!
'Writers' Houses II' is a story about the houses that witnessed creative outbursts, about desks where immortal works were born, about views that ignite the imagination, and about the surroundings that breathed life into beloved literary characters. It is a tribute to the places that shaped the genius of writers as diverse as Simone de Beauvoir, Leo Tolstoy, and Karen Blixen.
In search of places particularly connected to literature, the author has been traversing the world for over twenty years. This time she takes us to Argentina, where Gombrowicz developed his work away from the European hustle, to his beloved Viennese café Bernhard, and to his house in Ohlsdorf, where the silence of medieval walls was the writer's constant companion, to the dark estate of Gabriele D’Annunzio – the perfect setting for his eccentric endeavors. And finally to Lanzarote, where the author sought José Saramago's home and found the peace that allowed her to continue her writing mission.
Marzena Mróz-Bajon's book is not only a journey in space but also in time. It is a story about searching, discovering, and understanding. It is a reminder that – as Saramago's author repeats – 'Life, like paintings, should be viewed from a distance of four steps.'
'It is my affliction that every time I reach for a book, I wonder where it was written. Or at least, where the sketches for it were created, in what places the writer's thoughts swirled. Suddenly, Marzena Mróz-Bajon tenderly circles around the small wooden desk of Simone de Beauvoir in the studio on Paris's rue Victor Schœlcher. She subtly recognizes the objects in Federico García Lorca's family home in Spanish Fuente Vaqueros, where the key always gets stuck in the lock. She carefully examines the Gdańsk street Lelewela – the address of Günter Grass. We sink into these places. We long. Fortunately, Mróz-Bajon not only describes great artists but primarily adds her own story alongside.' – Maja Chitro, 'Elle Polska'
'I have never managed to visit so many homes of outstanding artists in such a short time, and yet my work involves peeking into artists' studios. The second installment of 'Writers' Houses' by Marzena Mróz-Bajon reminds me of how much can be told about art without leaving home. This story is framed so that we can get close to the desk of Gombrowicz, Simone de Beauvoir, or Karen Blixen, where manuscripts of works that today constitute the canon of our thinking about literature once lay, and to the homes where they lived, worked, partied, described in letters and memories, and to the streets, to the neighborhoods where small and great politics unfolded, which are saturated with the works of great writers. Perhaps that is why of all the visits, the most fascinating for me is the most difficult one in Leo Tolstoy's Moscow home, when the author peeks into the room with a view of war. This book can be read in many ways, like a well-told story of what is not visible, like a report that sheds more light on our favorite writers. It reminds me of one more thing, visiting the homes of great artists, seeing their workplaces, is a privilege and a treasure for us journalists, which Marzena Mróz-Bajon knows how to share like no one else.' – Aleksander Hudzik, Mint Magazine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Marzena Mróz-Bajon – journalist, traveler, photographer. Editor-in-chief of 'Business Traveller' magazine, who has been documenting the changing world with an eye behind the camera lens for years. A fan of literature, discussing it at the table with Henryk Bereza and Janusz Głowacki in the Reader's café. Privately, the wife of director Filip Bajon.
You can participate in the meeting with the author in two ways.
We invite you to Big Book Cafe MDM at ul. Koszykowa 34/50.
Free admission, we do not make reservations. We will let viewers into the bookstore on the upper floor, where the conversation will take place, from 6:45 PM. Before that, we invite you to our café on the ground floor of the venue.
You can also watch the live online broadcast on our Facebook channel.
Big Book Cafe is a place created by the 'Culture Doesn't Hurt' Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes the culture of reading in Poland.
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