1 October 2018, 6.30pm
Victoria Library
160 Buckingham Palace Road
London SW1W 9UD
FREE but registration required here
The presentation aims at outlining a variety of literary approaches to the theme of Poles in post-war Britain. Taken as a whole the British novels dealing with the theme of Polish postwar emigrant offer an interesting and diversified insight. One of them is associated with the image of a Pole as a romantic hero, undergoing the process of transformation towards a much modern and individual protagonist. Another is an image of a three-generation Polish family confronted both with the English reality and political changes occurring in Poland. The novels in question include a political satire, family saga and psychological and historical prose.
The novels discussed include, among others, Jerzy Peterkiewicz’ Future To Let, family stories by Sue GeeB.E. Andre and Joanna Czechowska, Homeland by Clare Francis, A Piece for Mother by Barbara Towell, and The Death of the Fronsac by Neal Ascherson.
About the speaker:
Andrzej Jaroszyński, MA in English Literature, lecturer in Comparative Literature, and Head of Polish Studies for Foreign Students at the Catholic University of Lublin. Joined the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990 serving as Deputy Consul General in Chicago, then Deputy Head of Mission in Washington, D.C. He was the Director pf the Department of Security Policy and Ambassador to Norway, Iceland and Australia. He retired from diplomatic service in 2013 and since then has been lecturing International Relations at Lublin universities. The presentation is part of the planned book on the images of Poles and Poland in Post-war British novel.
A selection of books donated to Victoria Library by the Polish Embassy in London will also be available to view on the night.