About eighty years ago some of the stories of Henryk Sienkiewicz first appeared in English translations. For nearly thirty years thereafter he was practically the exclusive representative of Polish short story writers in the English speaking world, although Żeromski, Szymański, Reymont and Prus were widely read and acclaimed in Poland. In his introduction, Dr. Maciuszko traces the spread of the Polish short story in English from these beginnings to the present day, including a view of the concurrent development of the art of literary translation. A brief critical survey of the major Polish writers and their translators further prepares even the general reader to profit from the bibliographic material comprising the bulk of the book.
As a reference work, The Polish Short Story in English is exceptional for its comprehensiveness and the clarity of its organization. Over five hundred short stories are included and may be found readily under English title, Polish title, author or translator. Particularly useful appendices supplement the bibliographic entries by listing translators, collections of translations and anthologies, relevant periodicals and a glossary of Polish given names.
An outstanding feature of the bibliography are the provocative résumés — over 200 of them — of those translations appearing in book form. In addition to their literary merit, the résumés provide a reference for the student of the short story genre or of Polish literature in indicating both the subject matter and the flavor of the original stories.
Far more than a catalog, The Polish Short Story in English is a scholarly work which, by considering its subject from several distinct aspects, enlivens it and makes it of interest both to the professional and to the general reader.
The editor of The Polish Short Story in English combines qualities and background especially suiting him for his task. A writer and translator of short stories, a linguist, equally at home in English and Polish, he is by profession a librarian and student of Polish literature.
Of Polish birth, Or. Maciuszko has an M.A. in English from the University of Warsaw and a Ph.D. in Library Science from Western Reserve University, Cleveland. He came to this country in 1951 and is now a U.S. citizen, currently the head of the John G. White department of the Cleveland Public Library and a lecturer in Polish language and literature at Western Reserve.
