From the FIUTS Archives: Ludmiła Marjańska

In the early 1960s FIUTS was already an active center for cultural exchange and deep connections. One of the students from that time who carried that spirit forward throughout her life was Polish poet and translator Ludmiła Marjańska.

Marjańska was born in Częstochowa, Poland on December 26, 1923, and grew to become one of her country’s respected voices in poetry and literary translation. She studied English philology at the University of Warsaw where she built the language foundation that supported her later work translating major English‑language poets.

She published her first poems in 1953 and went on to publish dozens of volumes of her own verse while also translating poets such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson and Robert Burns into Polish. She helped bring the texture of English‑language poetry to readers in Poland and enriched her own work through this cross‑cultural dialogue.

In 1961 she spent time as an exchange student in Seattle. That experience was meaningful enough that Marjańska stayed connected with FIUTS for decades after. In a heartfelt letter dated January 1, 1991 she shared a copy of her poem “Canyons,” writing that it was for “the young poets who visit FIUTS.” That simple gesture shows the lasting bond she felt with the FIUTS community and the encouragement she wished to pass on to future generations of writers.

Marjańska’s work and life remind us that poetry bridges cultures and that connections made in international exchange can resonate across a lifetime. Whether through her own verse or her translations of others, she helped build enduring understanding through language and art.