Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

Legionnaires The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

Warsaw uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

Jan Błoński Jan Błoński (15 January 1931 – 10 February 2009) was a Polish historian, literary critic, publicist and translator. He was a leading representative of the Kraków school of literary criticism, which wielded significant influence in postwar ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionMoulinet. He is a member of the Polish PEN-Club.

Literary and theatrical activities

In academic criticism (1979–2008), his main field was oriental literature, modern writers and visual artists of the West, especially

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

,

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

,

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

,

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

,

Louise Bourgeois Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (; 25 December 191131 May 2010) was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a varie ...

,

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

,

Robert Pinget Robert Pinget (; 19 July 1919 – 25 August 1997) was a Swiss-born French novelist and playwright associated with the nouveau roman movement. Life and work Robert Pinget was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1919. After completing his law studie ...

, and

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

. As a translator, he has rendered into Polish works of Samuel Beckett (''Watt'', ''

Malone Dies ''Malone Dies'' is a novel by Samuel Beckett. It was first published in 1951, in French, as ''Malone meurt'', and later translated into English by the author. ''Malone Dies'' contains the famous line, "Nothing is more real than nothing" – a ...

'', ''The Unnamable'', some other prose texts and Beckett's plays which he produced on stage, including '' Endgame'', ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'') and Thomas Bernhard (5 novels), as well as of H. Pinter, R. Pinget, and excerpts of works by writers, artists, philosophers and critics (e.g. M. Walser, D. Rabinovich, A.Giacometti, G. Deleuze, M.Leiris, J. Dupin, D. Sylvester, B. Bray) as well as one novel by the Slovak writer Jana Bénova, ''Café Hyena'' (Nisza Publ. Warsaw 2016). Kedzierski has authored three novels in Polish: ''bezludzie'' (''no man's earth'') 1995, ''modliszka'' (''praying mantis'') 1996. ''bez miary'' (''no limits'') 1997, published in Cracow, and one in English (''lucid intervals blind summits'', Huntington 1994) as well as texts for magazines in English, German (

Lettre International ''Lettre International'' is the title of a number of cultural magazines published in various languages in Europe. The history of ''Lettre International'' dates back to 1984, the year that the original French edition (''Lettre Internationale'') fir ...

), and French (Europe). Since 1996, he has been contributing editor to the journal Kwartalnik Artystyczny in Bydgoszcz/Torun, Poland, for which he has prepared numerous special issues devoted to the aforementioned writers and artists, notably ''Giacometti'', the first Polish book publication on the Swiss sculptor. Since 2009, a regular contributor for Berlin's "Kulturzeitschrift"

Lettre International ''Lettre International'' is the title of a number of cultural magazines published in various languages in Europe. The history of ''Lettre International'' dates back to 1984, the year that the original French edition (''Lettre Internationale'') fir ...

, he published there long conversations with

Barbara Bray Barbara Bray (née Jacobs; 24 November 1924 – 25 February 2010) was an English translator and critic. Early life Bray was born in Maida Vale, London; her father had Belgian and Jewish origins. An identical twin (her sister Olive Classe was al ...

, Thomas Bernhard's brother Peter Fabjan, and the internationally acclaimed theatre directors

Krzysztof Warlikowski Krzysztof Warlikowski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 26 May 1962) is a Polish theatre director. He is the creator and artistic director of Nowy Teatr (New Theatre) in Warsaw. Biography He studied history, philosophy and Romance languages at th ...

,

Romeo Castellucci Romeo Castellucci (born August 4, 1960) is an Italian theatre director, playwright, artist and designer. Since the 1980s he has been one part of the European theatrical avant-garde. Biography Romeo Castellucci graduated with a degree in painti ...

and

Krystian Lupa Krystian Lupa (Polish pronunciation: ; born 7 November 1943) is a Polish theatre director, set designer, playwright, translator and pedagogue. He has been called "the greatest living European theatre director". He is the recipient of many nation ...

. His contributions for German broadcasters (SWF, SWR,

Deutschlandradio Deutschlandradio (DLR; ) is a national German public radio broadcaster. History ''Deutschlandfunk'' was originally a West German news radio targeting listeners within West Germany as well as in neighbouring countries, ''Deutschlandfunk Kultur'' ...

) 1988–2003 include radio essays, conversations with senior publishers and radio adaptations of Beckett's prose works ''Company'' and ''Watt''. He was interviewed in 2016 about his principal interests in a series of broadcasts by Polish Radio Dwojka (2nd programme of the State Radio). In theatre, after the fall of communism in 1990, he started cooperation with the National Old Theater in Krakow and was, together with Adam Kwaśny and Marek Kalita, one of the founders of the Bücklein Theater, later the Atelier Theater. In the years 1996–2017, he organized and co-organized (in France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and Sweden) theater festivals and meetings devoted mainly to Beckett's work As a theatre director, he has staged in Poland ( Cracow and Warsaw) works by Beckett, Bernhard, Pinget,

Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalism, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937, ...

and J.L. Borges, in Germany (Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Villa Musica Mainz, E-Werk Freiburg), in the U.S.(Push-Push Theater Atlanta), in France (Le Colombier Paris, La Coupole St. Louis), and in Sweden ( Helsingborgs Stadsteater). Kedzierski has organized and co-organized several festivals in Europe and co-ordinated various productions around Beckett which put together plays, readings and adaptations of prose works. Theatre festivals include: ''journées beckett'' in Strasbourg 1996, ''Beckett in Berlin 2000'' (with Walter Asmus) at Akademie der Künste and Hebbel-Theater, ''transpositions'' in Cracow 2002 and 2006 at Villa Decius and Laznia Nowa Theatre, ''Beckett in Zurich'' at Zürcher Schauspielhaus 2006 (with Thomas Henkeler) as well as ''fail better: Beckett@111'' in 2017 (with Raimund Schall) in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, Germany and

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, Norway.

Focus on Samuel Beckett, Barbara Bray, Thomas Bernhard

After meeting Beckett in 1981, he maintained contact with him throughout the 80's – the playwright invited him to attend his rehearsals and co-adapted the text of ''Company'' for radio. Kedzierski describes his meetings with Beckett in his text ''Brushes,'' the first part of which was published in Holland in 2016. After the Irish playwright's death, Kedzierski befriended

Barbara Bray Barbara Bray (née Jacobs; 24 November 1924 – 25 February 2010) was an English translator and critic. Early life Bray was born in Maida Vale, London; her father had Belgian and Jewish origins. An identical twin (her sister Olive Classe was al ...

, a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio producer, critic and translator who had played a major role in Beckett's intellectual and private life. Kedzierski helped Bray write a personal memoir of Beckett, unfinished due to her passing in 2010. Kedzierski's conversations with Bray, recorded from 2003 to 2009, have been translated into several languages, though they remain unpublished in the original English. Bray remained largely unknown until the publication of vol 3 & 4 of ''The Letters of Samuel Beckett'' which reveals that she was his principal correspondent from 1958 until 1978. In 2013, Kedzierski, together with the Paris-based photographer/film maker Piotr Dzumala produced a 50 min. documentary on

Barbara Bray Barbara Bray (née Jacobs; 24 November 1924 – 25 February 2010) was an English translator and critic. Early life Bray was born in Maida Vale, London; her father had Belgian and Jewish origins. An identical twin (her sister Olive Classe was al ...

, ''Rue Samuel Beckett'', first shown in 2013 at the Happy Days International Festival, Enniskillen, N.Ireland. In addition to Beckett, Kedzierski has fostered the work of the Austrian writer

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

in Poland. He compiled two Bernhard issues of Kwartalnik Artystyczny in 2009 and translated five of his novels. He interviewed Bernhard's brother Peter Fabjan in 2008. During the interview they had a serious car accident which Kedzierski described in his prose text ''Aurach''.

Books published

*''

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

'' (co-author

Jan Błoński Jan Błoński (15 January 1931 – 10 February 2009) was a Polish historian, literary critic, publicist and translator. He was a leading representative of the Kraków school of literary criticism, which wielded significant influence in postwar ...

) Czytelnik Publishers, Warsaw 1983, *''

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

'', Wiedza Powszechna Publishers, Warsaw 1990, *''lucid intervals blind summits'' (a novel) University Editions, Huntington, USA 1994, *''bezludzie'' (a novel) Oficyna Literacka Publishers, Cracow 1994, *''modliszka'' (a novel) Oficyna Literacka, Cracow 1995, *''bez miary'' (a novel) Oficyna Literacka, Cracow 1997, *''Giacometti'', Kwartalnik Artystyczny 88, 2013, *''Pułapka Becketta'' (co-author Krzysztof Myszkowski), Biblioteka „Kwartalnika Artystycznego", Bydgoszcz 2020,

Theatre works

Stage directing

*

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

''Watt'', Bucklein Theatre, Cracow 1994 (in Polish) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

''Endgame'', Bucklein Theatre, Cracow 1995 (in Polish) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

''Not I, Play'' Bucklein Theatre, Cracow 1997 (in Polish) * Marek Kedzierski ''Halftruths ,'' Teatr Atelier, Cracow 1998 (in Polish) *

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

''Contra Heidegger'', Teatr Atelier Cracow, Teatr Rozmaitości Warsaw 1999–2003 (in Polish) *

Robert Pinget Robert Pinget (; 19 July 1919 – 25 August 1997) was a Swiss-born French novelist and playwright associated with the nouveau roman movement. Life and work Robert Pinget was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1919. After completing his law studie ...

''The Inquisitory'', Teatr Atelier Cracow 1999 (in Polish) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

''Happy Days ''Stary /National/ Theatre Cracow 2002 (in Polish) *

Robert Pinget Robert Pinget (; 19 July 1919 – 25 August 1997) was a Swiss-born French novelist and playwright associated with the nouveau roman movement. Life and work Robert Pinget was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1919. After completing his law studie ...

''The Hypothesis'', Teatr Atelier Cracow 2003 (in Polish) *

Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalism, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937, ...

''Auf eigene Faust (Diary)'' Badisches Staatstheater, Karlsruhe 2005 (in German) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

'' Endgame'' PushPush Theater, Atlanta 2006 (in English) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

''Quelques mots sur le silence (''triple bill'': Pas moi, L'innommable, Comédie'')'' '' Chat borgne théatre, Strasbourg 2006Théâtre de la Coupole a St.Louis, Anis GRAS, Arcueil (Paris) 2007, Le Colombier (Paris) 2008 (in French) *Mesias Maiguashca ''La Celda'' (''The Cell'') by J.L. Borges, Teatr Centralny Basen Artystyczny, mini-opera staged for ''

Warsaw Autumn Warsaw Autumn () is the largest international Polish festival of contemporary music. It was established in 1956 by two composers, Tadeusz Baird and Kazimierz Serocki, and officially established by the Head Board of the Polish Composers' Union ...

'' Contemporary Music Festival 2008 (in Spanish) *

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

''I Tredje person'', parts of three novels by Bernhard presented on stage, Helsingbors Stadsteater 2010 (in Swedish) *“Wäre ich der Steinway''…''" ''Thomas Bernhard – Das Ganze Theater mit Klavier'' ("Were I but the Steinway…" ''Thomas Bernhard – Making a scene with the piano.'' Piano performance, theatre, electronic audio. With Martin Schwab (

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

, Vienna, in German) and Klaus Steffes-Holländer (Freiburg), ''neue music'' works composed by Alwynne Pritchard (Bergen), Kirsten Reese (Berlin). Premiered at Villa Musica in Mainz June 2014. Broadcast by Südwestrundfunk SWR 2 in October 2014 (in German and English) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

''Nicht Ich (

Not I ''Not I'' is a short dramatic monologue written in 1972 (20 March to 1 April) by Samuel Beckett which was premiered at the "Samuel Beckett Festival" by the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, New York (22 November 1972). Synopsis ''Not I'' t ...

)'', Zerberus Theater, E-Werk Freiburg 2017 (in German) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

''Non io'' (''

Not I ''Not I'' is a short dramatic monologue written in 1972 (20 March to 1 April) by Samuel Beckett which was premiered at the "Samuel Beckett Festival" by the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, New York (22 November 1972). Synopsis ''Not I'' t ...

'') – fail better : E-Werk Freiburg 2017 (in Italian) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

''Katastrophe'' (''

Catastrophe Catastrophe or catastrophic comes from the Greek κατά (''kata'') = down; στροφή (''strophē'') = turning (). It may refer to the following: A general or specific event * Disaster, a devastating event * The Asia Minor Catastrophe, a Greek ...

''): E-Werk Freiburg 2017 (in German)

Bibliography

Hanna Borawska (2017), "Kwartalnik Artystyczny. Bibliografia 1993–2017''".'' ''Kwartalnik Artystyczny'' 4 (96) – addition.

Ewa Brzeska (2018), "Beckett w Polsce''".'' ''Tekstualia'' 4 (55).

Jacek Cieślak (2021), "Depresja i światło", ''Teatr'' 3.

Marek Kędzierski, Beckett i duch Bernharda
– Polish Radio Dwojka * Marek Kędzierski, Krzysztof Myszkowski (2020), ''Pułapka Becketta'', Biblioteka „Kwartalnika Artystycznego", Bydgoszcz 2020. * http://www.kwartalnik.art.pl/
Suche , Lettre – Europas Kulturzeitung

References

External links

beckett@111: looking back
* http://www.polskieradio.pl/8/380/Artykul/1657913,Marek-Kedzierski-Beckett-i-duch-Bernharda Kwartalnik Artystyczny http://www.kwartalnik.art.pl/ Lettre Internationa
Suche , Lettre – Europas Kulturzeitung
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kedzierski, Marek 1953 births Living people Polish literary critics Polish theatre directors Polish writers Polish translators

Life and education

Literary and theatrical activities

Focus on Samuel Beckett, Barbara Bray, Thomas Bernhard

Books published

Theatre works

Stage directing

Bibliography

References

External links