The Life, Work of Poet Wislawa Szymborska

In 1996, [Wislawa Szymborska](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/wisaawa-szymborska) was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. She was little known outside of her native Poland, but the award helped make her a major figure in modern world literature. Szymborska died Wednesday in Poland at age 88. Earlier today, I spoke to Szymborska's longtime translator, [Clare Cavanagh](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/clare-cavanagh), professor of Slavic languages and comparative literature at Northwestern University, about the poet's life and work: **A transcript will be posted soon.** **Editor's note:** In 1996, poet Robert Hass appeared on the NewsHour to talk about Szymborska after she won the Nobel Prize. You can read that transcript [here](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/october96/nobel_10-4.html). And in 1999, poet Robert Pinsky read one of Szymborska's poems on the program. You can find that [here](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/poems/july-dec99/pinsky_8-19.html). Photo by Mariusz Kubik.