In mid-July, 2014 the Open Dialog Foundation organised a series of poetry groups‘Literatura na Chmielnej’devoted to the discussion of the current state of contemporary Polish literature and how to promote it. The project was co-funded by the City of Warsaw.
On 16-18 July three debates on Polish literature were held on Warsaw’s Chmielna Street. The debate on the different facets of conservatism was conducted with the participation of Magdalena Bajer (author), Mariusz Cieślik (Rzeczpospolita daily), Adrian Sinkowski (Wyspa, Fronda, Teologia Polityczna magazines) and Sebastian Duda (Więźmagazine). On the following day Maciej Parowski (Nowa Fantastyka website), Małgorzata Büthner-Zawadzka (literary scholar), MichałBarcikowski (Christianitasmagazine and website) and Piotr Gociek (Do Rzeczy weekly) appeared during the session entitled ‘Literature in Warsaw, Warsaw in literature’. On July 18, Wacław Holewiński (author), Piotr Górski (Res Publica Nowa quarterly) and Piotr Pałka (Rebelya.pl) pondered the theme: ‘Do we need literature in public life?’.
All debates were moderated by Tomasz Herbich (Teologia Polityczna).
Watch video coverage from the event.