Glimpses Into the Polish Sublime

An old saying asserts that the English take their pleasures sadly; by contrast, Poles often leaven the abundant tragedies of their lives with irony and even wit. This attractive sensibility survives translation, which makes it a pity that more fine Polish literature has not yet been translated into English. Efforts to redress this lack should be applauded, even flawed ones like “Polish Writers on Writing” (Trinity University Press, 263 pages, $60). Alissa Valles, who most recently translated and edited the collected poems of Zbigniew Herbert for Ecco Press, has provided limpid translations of almost all the texts in the present book. She also “helped select the pieces,” as admitted in the acknowledgments. Yet oddly, Ms. Valles is given no co-author credit for a book whose qualities are largely due to her skills. Instead, a sole editor is listed, the poet Adam Zagajewski.