[ELEKTOROWICZ Leszek]. A collection of 24 letters (14 manuscript, 10 typescript) by Leszek Elektorowicz to Zdzislaw Najder....

[ELEKTOROWICZ Leszek]. Collection of 24 letters (14 manuscript, 10 typewritten) by Leszek Elektorowicz to Zdzisław Najder, 1966-1968.
Letters on A4 and A5 sheets, one on "Życie Literackie" letterhead. Majority of letters written from the United States (Iowa City, Los Angeles), a few from Krakow, one from Kroscienko. Six letters without date (contextually they are easy to place in time). Elektorowicz writes, among other things, about the convention of literary critics in Warsaw (1966), Jerzy S. Sita's poems, the publication of Najder's article in "Literary Life", the invitation to the USA (accepted with hesitation), the prepared trip to America, the planned lectures in the USA (he participated in the International Writing Program there in 1966-1967), his first impressions of his stay in Iowa, his attempts to earn extra money (lectures, talks, consultations) in the face of a very difficult financial situation (the granted scholarship, 2.500 dollars per year, was more than modest), the desire to bring his wife to the United States and the troubles involved, about organizational and administrative matters related to the trip to Berkeley in I 1967. Elektorowicz inquires about Milosz, to whom he would like to send his last book, asks for the address of Herbert, who is staying in France, mentions Tymon Terlecki, Kuncewiczowa, Tyrmand; during his first period in the US, he complains of loneliness: "a stranger myself here, in this country of cars and highways, a tardy walker from the road to socialism." In subsequent letters, he briefly describes Milosz's lecture on Witkacy, provides information about a translation symposium in Paris with the participation of Polish domestic and foreign writers, writes about Przybos's efforts to print Milosz's essay in Poetry ("this would undoubtedly be an advance on the road to sanity"), about his wife's arrival and the lengthy passport application that preceded it, and about their joint trip across the States. One of the first letters was accompanied by a clipping from Literary Life about Najder. Also included was an excerpt from one letter dated December 1966, in which the poet asks if he could include his text in the émigré "Topics" "without fear of any trouble [in the country]? [...]. A few 'bucks' would go a long way, especially since the thing is ready. Of course, not at the price of later annoyances." The correspondence is a kind of chronicle of the stay in the US of a writer from Poland, Leszek Elektorowicz, who came from the country. Livelihood matters - in view of the miserable economic condition of the countries behind the Iron Curtain - often obscured the possibility of fully benefiting from the achievements of civilization in the Western world, making him dependent on obtaining a few dozen dollars for a Greyhound ticket. Letters in good to very good condition, without envelopes.
L. Elektorovich, owner of Leslaw Witeszczak (1924-2019 - poet, prose writer, essayist, translator.