Krakow the City of Literature
In Krakow
literature has long been central. Quite literally: at the
very heart of the city, in the middle of the Rynek Glowny
main square, there stands a grand monument to poet Adam
Mickiewicz, marking the center of the Krakow universe. Maybe
it wasn’t exactly the intention of its 19th-century
originators but the statue of Poland’s national bard
symbolizes the significance of literature for Krakow. On the
other hand, the importance of Krakow for literature is
greater by far.
In 2013 UNESCO
has designated Krakow as the City of Literature in
recognition of its literary credentials.
Literature in Krakow.
The city has
produced countless writers of course. What counts is that
quite a few of them made history of literature. Alas, owing
to poor knowledge of the Polish language among foreigners
they stay obscure abroad, the 1996 Nobel Laureate Wislawa
Szymborska possibly being an exception. Although, as a
matter of fact, one of the greatest English novelists ever
was a native of Krakow: Jozef Korzeniowski aka Joseph
Conrad.
Over 3,000 book titles are published in Krakow every year by hundreds of
publishing houses active in the city, including the country’s leaders in the
business. So little wonder that Krakow is also home to Poland’s biggest and most
important book fair.
Each year up to thirty literary festivals take
place in Krakow, two most notable being the Czeslaw Milosz
Festival in May and the Joseph Conrad Festival in October.
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Krakow Festivals
Hardly a month passes in Krakow without some
time-honored occasion for common festivities or
colorful ceremony.
Krakow's Regular Culture Events
There are over fifty culture festivals in Krakow
every single year.
There
are 25,000-plus beds to choose from.
Good
restaurants in Krakow
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