Writer Ana Blandiana is this year’s laureate of the “Zbigniew Herbert” International Literary Award, awarded by the Herbert Foundation to a living author for his entire work. The award ceremony will take place at the National Library in Warsaw on May 27, 2026.
Ana Blandiana received the news of this new award with special emotion: “It’s not the first time I’ve won a prize, and it’s not even the first Polish prize I’ve won, but it’s the first time it happens to me that the prize bears the name and is dedicated to the memory of a poet, and a poet to whom I feel close by destiny. Being more than a generation away, Zbigniew Herbert climbed the golgotha of the struggle with censorship before me and on a perhaps steeper slope, but the aesthetic mechanisms of resistance were the same, as were the forms of repression that failed to defeat us. For me, the emotion of this award is connected not only to poetry, but also to history”, shows News.
The distinction, accompanied by the statuette “Herbert’s Signature”has been awarded by the Herbert Foundation since 2013 and aims to honor the artistic and intellectual achievements that resonate with the values that marked the work of Zbigniew Herbert (1924-1998). Through his poetry and essays, but also through his open opposition to the communist regime in Poland, Zbigniew Herbert was a moral landmark for the generation of the “Solidarity” trade union. His poetic work has been translated since 1976 in Romania, and the most recent anthology – Labyrinth with broken walls – is compiled and translated by Constantin Geambaşu (Editura Tracus Arte, 2018) and opens with a preface signed by Ana Blandiana.
This year’s jury members are: Krystyna Dąbrowska (Polish poet, essayist and translator), Edward Hirsch (American poet, essayist and literary critic), Michael Krüger (German publicist, translator and literary critic), Mercedes Monmany (literary critic, translator and one of the most important personalities of Spanish publishing life) and Aleš Šteger (Slovenian poet and prose writer), the secretary of the jury being Mikołaj Nowak-Rogoziński (editor and historian of art). In 2025, the distinction was awarded to the Canadian poet Anna Carson, among the laureates of previous editions were poets and literary figures such as Tomas Venclova (Lithuania), Marianna Kijanowska (Ukraine), Durs Grünbein (Germany) or Breyten Breytenbach (South Africa).
“I am grateful to Mrs. Ana Blandiana for everything she has offered, over the decades, to Romanian literature and for the way in which, through her voice and her work, she has made it known and appreciated in the world. The awarding of the “Zbigniew Herbert Prize” 2026 International Literary Prize, by the Herbert Foundation, is a new confirmation of the value of a creation that has long gone beyond Romania’s borders and has become part of an authentic European cultural dialogue. I am glad to see that this recognition comes from a cultural space in which his poetry has long been present and appreciated, including through the recent appearance, in a bilingual edition, of the volume “Se face linîste în mine”, but also through direct meetings with the public, as I am convinced will be the one on May 28, at the Koneser Center, organized with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Warsaw. I also thank Mrs. Ana Blandiana for the constant role she had in promoting Romanian literature internationally, including through her involvement, since the 90s, in the reconstruction of essential institutions for cultural life, such as the re-establishment of PEN Club Romania. A well-deserved recognition, which speaks not only of a remarkable work, but also of a deep vocation to represent Romanian culture in the world”transmitted Liviu Jicman, president of the Romanian Cultural Institute.
“There is silence in me” – the poet’s third volume translated into Polish
The Herbert Foundation also supports the publication of the volume of bilingual poems “There is peace in me”, which includes a selection of 56 poems signed by Ana Blandiana, from the homonymous Romanian publication (2024) and from the volume “Variations on a given theme” (2018), both published in Romania by Humanitas Publishing.
March 25, the day when the poet Ana Blandiana was born
The Polish version will appear at Editura Pogranicze, translated by Joanna Kornaś-Warwas and edited by poet, translator and literary critic Jakub Kornhauser. This is the author’s third volume of poems translated into Polish after “Pięta achillesowa i inne wiersze/ Vulnerable heel and other poems” (translation: Zbigniew Schuperski, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1982) and “Moja ojczyzna A 4/ Patria mea A 4” (Editura Słowo obraz / terytoria, 2016). For this second volume, together with the poet, she was awarded the “European Poet of Freedom” Award and the translator Joanna Kornaś-Warwas. Over time, Ana Blandiana’s poems have appeared in Polish translation and in collective volumes – Anthology of Romanian Poetry (PIW Publishers, 1989) – or thematic issues of the Literatura na świecie magazine (1984, 1998).
On May 28, Ana Blandiana will participate in the launch of her new volume at the Koneser Center in the Polish capital, with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Warsaw.
Among the literary prizes with which Ana Blandiana was awarded are: the Poetry Prize of the Romanian Writers’ Union, 1969; The poetry prize of the Romanian Academy, 1970; “Gottfried von Herder” International Prize, Vienna, 1982; “Opera Omnia” Award, 2001; “Vilenica” International Award, 2002; “Camaiore” International Award, 2005; “Acerbi” Special Award, 2005; The “European Poet of Freedom” Award, 2016, the “Griffin” Canadian Poetry Award, 2018, and in 2024 she was awarded the “Princess of Asturias Prize for Letters” for the entire work.
