The Chicago literary festival entitled After Miłosz: Polish Poetry in the 20th and 21st Centuries is the biggest Polish poetry event in the United States this year. The festival goes beyond the familiar formula of commenting the work of the poet and offers a broad view of the contemporary Polish poetry scene. Besides the academic conference dedicated to Miłosz's work, and a panel with some of the
greatest poets in America (Jorie Graham, Charles Simic) commemorating the artist and his influence on American poetry, the program includes readings by the most talented modern Polish poets of three generations, from the best known (Adam Zagajewski, Piotr Sommer) to the most accomplished contemporary young writer, Justyna Bargielska. An important part of the festival will be two concerts, opening with the best Polish rappers FISZ and EMADE, whose songs are inspired by Polish poetry. Another concert will present top jazz singer, Patricia Barber, who will perform especially for this occasion. The main organizers of the festival are the Foundation of Tygodnik Powszechny weekly and the Joseph Conrad International Literary Festival in Kraków, for which the Chicago festival is a portion of the larger international project for promoting Polish literature abroad. The co-organizer of the festival is the Head of the Slavic Department at University of Illinois at Chicago, Professor Michał Paweł Markowski, who also represents the Polish Interdisciplinary Program at UIC supported by The Hejna Fund, and serves as the artistic director to the Conrad Festival. The festival After Miłosz will take place at the Chopin Theater, one of the most independent and vivid cultural centers in Chicago. The festival is financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture and Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
