Not just “the one from Białoszewski”. Justyna Sobolewska about her grandmother - Jadwida Stańczakowa

Widely known as Miron Białoszewski's caretaker, typesetter and confidant, Jadwiga Stańczakowa escapes the role of a silent muse from Lisbon. She was a woman for whom the word “impossible” did not exist — she lived bravely, against the tide and completely on her own terms. Her biography is a fascinating portrait full of contradictions: a Polish Jewish woman who escaped from the Warsaw ghetto and saved her parents; a reporter who, after losing her sight, began to see the world in different senses; a yogi; a friend of poets (first Broniewski, then Białoszewski), and at the same time a difficult character — a loving and toxic daughter, mother and grandma. Above all, however, she wanted to be an artist: she wrote short stories, sparing haiku and autobiographical prose.

In the book Jadwiga, the writer's granddaughter, literary critic Justyna Sobolewska, breaks through the home archives to resume an interrupted conversation after almost thirty years. Together with Izabella Adamczewska, they will talk about emancipation, war trauma, Jewish identity and the recovery of the voice of a woman who for too long remained in the shadow of someone else's legend.

When: Tuesday, 13 October at 18:00 Where: Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre, Wojska Polskiego 83Registration is valid for the meeting at: Conducted by: Izabella Adamczewska

About the guest: Justyna Sobolewska — literary critic, journalist and publicist. For years she has been associated with the weekly “Polityka”, in which she publishes reviews and texts on literature. She is the author of the books “Book about reading”, “Miron, Ilia, Kornel. Biographical story about Kornel Filipowicz”, “Jadwiga. The Tale of Stańczakova” and “A Book About (Non) Reading”. In his work, he combines critical literary insight with personal reflection on the role of literature and reading in the modern world.

About the lecturer: Izabella Adamczewska — works at the Department of Literary Theory at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz, teaches creative writing. Author of the monograph Lże reportage and real fictions. A journalistic novel and reportage in the time of post-truth and performative turn (Łódź: WUŁ, 2020) and Jacek Hugo-Bader. Wanderer (Łódź: WUL, 2022). She has published, among others, in “Second Texts”, “Er (r) go” and “Issues of Literary Genres”. Reviewer and cultural journalist, she collaborates with “Books. A magazine to read.” She runs a blog on FB I'm in the Word.

-----Events accompany the celebration of the 82nd anniversary of the liquidation of the Litzmanstadt-Getto.Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund — a state special purpose fund. The task is co-financed by the City of Łódź. Show less