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President, first lady urge Poles to join national reading event

04.09.2026 17:10
Poland's President Karol Nawrocki and First Lady Marta Nawrocka have encouraged the public to join this year's National Reading, an initiative promoting Polish literature now in its 15th edition.
First Lady Marta Nawrocka and President Karol Nawrocki in a promotional video encouraging Poles to join this years National Reading of Adam Mickiewiczs Forefathers Eve on Saturday.
First Lady Marta Nawrocka and President Karol Nawrocki in a promotional video encouraging Poles to join this year's National Reading of Adam Mickiewicz's "Forefathers' Eve" on Saturday.Photo: Polish President's Office/Mikołaj Bujak

This year's chosen text is Forefathers' Eve, a landmark work by Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz.

The presidential couple will join the reading at noon in Warsaw, at Mickiewicz Square beside the poet's monument on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street.

Nawrocki described the piece in a recorded message as a "national mystery play in which folk rituals become a space to discuss Poland's history and fundamental questions of freedom and independence."

The first lady called it a "brilliant story of old Polish customs and traditions that continues to inspire today."

Nawrocka also noted that many phrases from Forefathers' Eve have become part of everyday speech, which she said only underscored the play's timeless quality.

The National Reading campaign began in 2012 with a joint reading of Pan Tadeusz by Mickiewicz, considered Poland's national poet and a leading figure of European Romanticism whose work transformed Polish literary language.

Past editions have featured pieces by other major Polish writers, including Nobel laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz, novelist Bolesław Prus and playwright Stanisław Wyspiański.

Last year's reading focused on the 16th-century poetry of Jan Kochanowski, regarded as the father of Polish literature.

Anyone can take part in the public readings held across the country.

(ał/gs)

Source: IAR, prezydent.pl