A poster for Zbigniew Herbert's birth centenary commemoration poems recitation session Photo: Courtesy of the Polish Embassy in China

The year 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Zbigniew Herbert, one of the most significant Polish poets of the 20th century. On this occasion, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in China has launched a series of poem-recitation starting from October 28. 

Magdalena Czechoska, director of the Culture Office at the Polish Embassy in China, read Herbert's poems for the Chinese netizens. 

Herbert was one of the most influential Polish poets, essayists, and moralists of the post-WWII period. 

Born in 1924, Herbert wrote on a wide range of subjects. He was once a contender for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature.

Born and raised in Lviv, Herbert studied in Kraków and Toru, and later moved to Sopot where he worked for some time. He spent most of his life in Warsaw. 

His works have been translated into 40 languages.

Through recalling the literary figure, the Culture Office at the Polish Embassy in China shared that the message of Herbert's works remains a challenge that has not lost its relevance in 2024 and transcends the framework of Polish culture.

Herbert died in 1998 at the age of 74.