What: The poet Wislawa Szymborska* won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996. The collection Monologue of a Dog includes 26 poems in their English translations alongside the original Polish. Stay with me, now. Symborska comes across as a writer who did not say, "I'm going to write some poems, watch me go," but instead began with, "I have some perfectly formed nuggets of thought. How shall I best present them?" The beauty, simplicity, and clarity of the poems remain intact through the translation, which is saying something when each word matters so much.
Comparable to: The light touch in the tone of Emily Dickinson, but Szymborska is much more interested in how the mundane details of everyday (often indoor) life build to bigger things.
Representative quote: "I'm still asleep, / but meanwhile facts are taking place."
You might not like it if: No poetry, no way, no how for you. (Just give it a bit of a chance, though. It's short!)
How to get it: If a place has a poetry section, you'll probably find a Szymborska collection there. Highly recommended as a book to take with you on public transit for a couple of reasons: 1) Frequent interruptions don't faze the short poems, and 2) You'll have something to think about when you pause to look out the window.
*Once you've got the hang of it, Szymborska is very fun to say.
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