[dedication] Szymborska Wislawa - Dlatego żyjemy wyd. II.

Szymborska Wisława - Dlatego żyjemy, Czytelnik, Warsaw 1954, second edition, dedication by the author on the title page to Halina and Tadeusz Kwiatkowski, p. 44, dimensions 12 x 16.5 cm, good condition.

That's why we live - the debut volume of poetry by Wislawa Szymborska, published in 1952 in Warsaw by the "Czytelnik" Publishing Cooperative. On the basis of this volume, published in an edition of 1140 pieces and maintained in the Socialist Realist trend, Szymborska was admitted to the Union of Polish Writers. In the year of publication, her poem "When over the cradle of the People's Constitution an old workeress reaches out to reminisce" was awarded in a competition of the Minister of Culture and Art, ZLP and SDP. In 1954 also in the "Czytelnik" the second edition of the volume is published, this time in an increased circulation of 2101 pieces. In the same year Szymborska received the Literary Award of the City of Cracow for her first two volumes ("Dlatego żyjemy", "Pytania zadawane sobie").

WislawaSzymborska, or Maria Wislawa Anna Szymborska-Wlodek (1923 - 2012) - Polish poet, essayist, critic, translator, columnist; Nobel Prize winner in literature (1996), founder of the Polish Writers' Association (1989), member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (1995), lady of the Order of the White Eagle. From 1929 Wislawa Szymborska lived in Krakow. In 1953-1966 she was head of the poetry section of the weekly "Literary Life", then in 1967-1981 she published in it the columns Lektury nadobowiązkowe, which she wrote until 2002. In 1983 she began working with "Tygodnik Powszechny". Since 1988 she was a member of the PEN Club, and since 2001 an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Halina Kwiatkowska, owned by Helena Królikiewiczówna (1921 - 2020) - Polish actress, pedagogue. A school and college friend of Karol Wojtyła, with whom she performed on the school stage and at the Rhapsodic Theater. Permanently associated with the theaters of Cracow.

Tadeusz Kwiatkowski (1920 - 2007) - Polish prose writer, satirist, screenwriter, author of stage texts. Member of the Association of Polish Writers and PEN Club. Involved in theatrical life: active in the theaters of Tadeusz Kantor and Mieczysław Kotlarczyk (Rapsodyczny Theater), literary manager of theaters: Groteska (1949-1956), Juliusz Słowacki (1958-1965) and Bagatela (1978-1981), director and literary manager of the Satirist Theater (1953-1955), co-founder of the literary cabaret Jama Michalika (1960). From 1971 to 1978 he was director of the Estrada in Cracow.