Salki

"It all blends here unexpectedly: that past and memory with the present and space. [. . .] At times, your skin will crawl with pleasure from reading."--Andrzej StasiukLying in bed in Gotland after a writer's conference, thinking about his compulsive desire to travel--and the uncomfortable tensions this desire creates--the narrator of Salki starts recounting tragic stories of his family's past, detailing their lives, struggles, and fears in twentieth-century Eastern Europe. In these pieces, he investigates various "salkis"--attic rooms where memories and memorabilia are stored--real and metaphorical, investigating old documents to better understand the violence of recent times.Winner of the prestigious Gdynia Literary Award for Essay, Salki is in the tradition of the works of W. G. Sebald and Ryszard Kapuscinski, utilizing techniques of Polish reportage in creating a landscape of memory that is moving and historically powerful.Wojciech Nowicki is a Polish essayist, journalist, critic, photographer, and even writes a culinary column. He is also the co-founder of the Imago Mundi Foundation devoted to promoting photography. Salki is his first book to be translated into English.Jan Pytalski is a graduate of the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw, and has an MA in translation from the University of Rochester.

Author:

Wojciech Nowicki, Jan Pytalski

Publisher:

Open Letter

Publication Date:

Jun 13, 2017

Number of pages:

228 pages

Language:

English

Binding:

Paperback

ISBN-10:

1940953588

ISBN-13:

9781940953588