Mortal engines and electronic bards: Speculative Universes of Stanisław Lem – A talk by Jaroslaw Anders
Format: Webinar
When: Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 4:00 PM ET
This is the 11th episode in a webinar series dedicated to Polish literature presented together with the Polish Program at CUNY Hunter College.
The event is part of the Tadeusz Solowij Lectures of the Kosciuszko Foundation. It is free and open to the public. Spots are limited, and registration is required. In lieu of admission, a donation towards the KF Cultural Fund is appreciated.
Photo credit: Jakub Grelowski/PAP
Stanisław Lem, the most translated Polish writer, is known primarily as the author of brilliant science fiction narratives. But his philosophical fantasies and his numerous essays show him also as one of the most profound and original modern thinkers, exploring such subjects as human symbiotic relationship with technology, the uses and abuses of knowledge, and the possibility of a post-human civilization.
Jaroslaw Anders talks about the life and work of a man who predicted—decades ago—the moral dilemmas of automatic warfare, virtual reality, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and the unstoppable spread of information.
Jaroslaw Anders is a Polish literary critic, translator, and editor living in Washington, DC. He is the author of Between Fire and Sleep: Essays on Modern Polish Poetry and Prose (Yale, 2009), and many essays published in The New York Review of Books, The New Republic, The Los Angeles Book Review, and other publications. He translated into Polish books by Susan Sontag, and into English Barbarian in the Garden by Zbigniew Herbert, Rondo by Kazimierz Brandys, and The Subtenant by Hanna Krall.
Dr. Malgorzata Pospiech is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist, photographer, and published translator. Her three novels were long-listed for the Central Europe Literary Award. Professor Pospiech is in charge of the Polish language and literature program at CUNY Hunter College, sponsored by the Kosciuszko Foundation.
