When Poland lost its independence in 1795, the occupying powers, Prussia (which later became Germany) and Russia, attempted to erase the Polish nation. Both powers forbade school instruction in the Polish language and made use of their own languages mandatory. The survival of the nation would depend on the survival of the Polish tongue. Book publishing and private education became the front lines in the 123-year war of independence.

As a result, Polish culture acquired three enduring characteristics: the habit of translating into Polish all of the world's literature, immediately and at volume; voracious reading; and the profound respect with which it treats its authors.

All three phenomena persist: Poland translates and reads Western books in astonishing numbers - 35,000 titles a year. This means that Polish authors are familiar with the most recent trends in Western literature, and when they write, they write modern, cosmopolitan, sophisticated texts.

Secondly, Poland reads: four times as much as the French and twice as much as the Brits and the Americans. This provides Polish authors with an audience that is both eager to read and demanding.

And finally, we respect our authors. This means that the most talented among us often turn to literature rather than business or science or politics.

All these factors played a huge role in Polish independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Among the heroes of that struggle were Polish publishers operating in the West and smuggling their books into Poland. They launched and sustained authors whom the Soviet puppets would otherwise have crushed. And thus, Polish literature again became a great battlefield and again produced an extraordinary crop of superb, world-class writing.

Mondrala's mission is to bring that writing to the world. Our blog below highlights the great Polish authors who have written world-standard stuff.

From our blog