Our activity

Publishing

The Institute of Literature was established to meet two important cultural needs: to provide tangible material support to the Polish literary community, with a special emphasis on independent authors, and increase the reading competence of contemporary literature audiences. One of the ways in which we try to accomplish these objectives is through publishing.
“Nowy Napis” is a culture quarterly published in 9,000 copies, designed to present ambitious poetry, prose, and drama, initiate literary debate, and foster in-depth criticism. The quarterly is edited by critics and literature scholars from all over Poland in an open formula; its authors come from all the generations and communities willing to cooperate with the magazine.
The “Nowy Napis Online” website publishes current reviews and conversations with writers, as well as reports on current literary events. In search of an attractive formula, the site taps all the available online multimedia formats, such as photos, audio and video. It also runs an electronic library of ambitious literature, which is available online. Each name in the search engine is hyperlinked to the writer’s profile, original texts, and related criticism, as well as multimedia.
Biblioteka Krytyki Literackiej Kwartalnika “Nowy Napis” is a literary criticism series (published in 9,000 copies), devoted to the most recent works of, for instance, poets and novelists recently included in the high-school core curriculum by the Ministry of National Education, as well as émigré writers whose writings should be restored to Polish literature. Along with the quarterly, books published in this series are distributed as a package to libraries across Poland.
Established in 2004, Biblioteka Pana Cogito (BPC) is a scholarly series primarily devoted to interpretations of contemporary poetry. Once the scope is expanded to cover prose and drama, the BPC will fully satisfy the intellectual needs of contemporary Polish literature scholars.
Nowa Krytyka i Esej is a platform for new critical voices, but also an attempt to foster dialogue between new and established writers and critics.
Biblioteka Literacka Kwartalnika “Nowy Napis” brings together ambitious poetry, prose and essay volumes, including books selected in the “New Text Document” National Literature A
Seria Dzienników Pandemicznych Instytutu Literatury [Pandemic Journals] is a varied record that narrates the experience of this tremendously difficult time, a material of great value not only for art but also for sociological research.

Meetings, conferences, debates

Literary Workshops – organized several times per year, these meetings are designed as a platform for writers to enliven the literary debate, present programs and ideas, and collect interesting material for the quarterly magazine and the website. Poets, novelists, and playwrights representing different generations, theoretical approaches, and artistic currents join the workshops to bring the literary community closer together. The event also encourages poets and prose writers to discuss topical ideas and new aesthetics, as well as current literary trends and contemporary forms of expression, which helps foster debate and drive an exchange of ideas on ars poetica in the absence of overarching perspectives that marks our time. Records of the debates are later published in the quarterly magazine and video recordings can be found on the website.
Herbert Workshops – an academic conference organized since 2004 to bring together contemporary Polish literat scholars and foreign researchers. Initially, the emphasis was placed on the interpretations of 20^th-century Polish poetry, but the scope was later considerably broadened. In 2018, the 15^th-jubilee Herbert Workshop was reorganized as the 1^st International 20^th– and 21^st-century Polish Literature Congress. The congresses will take place every three years.