Czesław Miłosz: A California Life (Book) [show prizes]
Title: Czesław Miłosz: A California Life
Author: Cynthia L. Haven
Abstract: Czesław Miłosz, one of the greatest poets and thinkers of the past hundred years, is not generally considered a Californian. But the Nobel laureate spent four decades in Berkeley—more time than any other single place he lived—and he wrote many of his most enduring works there.
This is the first book to look at his life through a California lens. Filled with original research and written with the grace and liveliness of a novel, it is both an essential volume for his most devoted readers and a perfect introduction for newcomers.
Miłosz was a premier witness to the sweep of the twentieth century, from the bombing of Warsaw in World War II to the student protests of the sixties and the early days of the high-tech boom. He maintained an open-minded but skeptical view of American life, a perspective shadowed by the terrors he experienced in Europe. In the light of recent political instability and environmental catastrophe, his poems and ideas carry extra weight, and they are ripe for a new generation of readers to discover them. This immersive portrait demonstrates what Miłosz learned from the Golden State, and what Californians can learn from him.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/czeslaw-milosz-a-california-life/
Primary URL Description: "Haven draws on a compendium of knowledge of her subject, having mused on and written about Miłosz for more than 20 years. [...] Haven lets us into her thought processes, even when she is questioning them, and lovingly recreates conversations—in the relative present, at a café with Robert Hass [...] and in the recent past, at Miłosz’s Grizzly Peak home as the poet drinks bourbon and chats with friends into the wee hours."
Los Angeles Review of Books
Secondary URL: https://www.amazon.com/Czeslaw-Milosz-California-Life-Lives/dp/1597145491
Secondary URL Description: Amazon website
Publisher: Heyday Books
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781597145534
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes
"One of Us, Not One of Us" (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: "One of Us, Not One of Us"
Author: Cynthia Haven
Abstract: (ISEEES)
Czesław Miłosz, one of the greatest poets and thinkers of the past hundred years, is not generally considered a Californian. But the Nobel laureate spent four decades in Berkeley—more time than any other single place he lived—and he wrote many of his most enduring works here. In this presentation, Cynthia L. Haven, author of 'Czesław Miłosz: A California Life' (Heyday Books, 2021), will look at Miłosz's life in Berkeley through a California lens and demonstrate what Miłosz learned from the Golden State, and what Californians can learn from him.
Date: 11/8/2021
Primary URL: https://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/iseees.html
Primary URL Description: Czesław Miłosz, one of the greatest poets and thinkers of the past hundred years, is not generally considered a Californian. But the Nobel laureate spent four decades in Berkeley—more time than any other single place he lived—and he wrote many of his most enduring works here. In this presentation, Cynthia L. Haven, author of 'Czesław Miłosz: A California Life' (Heyday Books, 2021), will look at Miłosz's life in Berkeley through a California lens and demonstrate what Miłosz learned from the Golden State, and what Californians can learn from him.
Secondary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJc5OJV-HeI&t=3561s
Secondary URL Description: Zoom video of the event
Conference Name: Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, UC Berkeley
Czesław Miłosz: A California Life - A CEERES of Voices Conversation with Cynthia Haven (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Czesław Miłosz: A California Life - A CEERES of Voices Conversation with Cynthia Haven
Abstract: Cynthia Haven (Stanford University) discusses her recent book Czesław Miłosz: A California Life with William Nichell (University of Chicago). The event was held at the Franke Institute for the Humanities, located at 1100 E 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637, on October 28, 2021.
About the book
Czesław Miłosz, one of the greatest poets and thinkers of the past hundred years, is not generally considered a Californian. But the Nobel laureate spent four decades in Berkeley--more time than any other single place he lived--and he wrote many of his most enduring works there. This is the first book to look at his life through a California lens. Filled with original research and written with the grace and liveliness of a novel, it is both an essential volume for his most devoted readers and a perfect introduction for newcomers.
Author: Cynthia L. Haven
Date: 10/28/2021
Location: University of Chicago
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR-_BCwvXQI&t=31s
Cynthia L. Haven in Conversation with James Marcus (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Cynthia L. Haven in Conversation with James Marcus
Abstract: A conversation with James Marcus, author of Amazonia and former editor of Harper's Magazine
Author: City Lights Bookstore
Date: 10/26/2021
Location: City Lights, San Francisco, California
Primary URL: https://citylights.com/events-category/cynthia-l-haven-in-conversation-with-james-marcus/
Czesław Miłosz: A California Life — A Conversation with Cynthia L. Haven (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Czesław Miłosz: A California Life — A Conversation with Cynthia L. Haven
Director: Benjamin Lima
Producer: Athenaeum Review
Abstract: How the book originated (0:45) — The vatic tradition in Polish poetry (4:30) — Warsaw 1945 and “Dedication” (6:45) — Introducing Polish literature to California students (11:00) — Immersion in American literature and culture after 1945 (15:00) — Under surveillance by the U.S. government; defecting to the U.S.; Stalinism as “swallowing frogs” (17:30) — Being and becoming; poetry and philosophy; from Thomas Aquinas to James Fenimore Cooper (20:30) — The superhuman California landscape (24:30) — Transition from Poland to Berkeley and “A Magic Mountain” (25:30) — The loss of “second space” and spiritual imagination (30:30) — A playful thinker, and “To Mrs. Professor in Defense of My Cat’s Honor and Not Only” (34:00)
Date: 12/17/2021
Primary URL: https://athenaeumreview.org/podcast/czeslaw-milosz-a-california-life-a-conversation-with-cynthia-l-haven
Primary URL Description: Download podcast on the site.
Format: Digital File
CITY LIGHTS LIVE ! Cynthia L. Haven in conversation with James Marcus (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: CITY LIGHTS LIVE ! Cynthia L. Haven in conversation with James Marcus
Abstract: Onstage conversation with author James Marcus, former editor of Harper's, at San Francisco's legendary "City Lights" bookstore.
Author: City Lights
Date: 10/26/2021
Location: San Francisco, CA
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_NN-vLa2GQ
Primary URL Description: Youtube video
Secondary URL: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cynthia-l-haven-in-conversation-with-james-marcus-tickets-167443970423#
Secondary URL Description: Eventbrite registration for the event