Intersections: On Andrzej Bobkowski, Katherine Mansfield, and Jerzy Giedroyc

The focus of this essay is on the artistic value of Andrzej Bobkowski's prose and on his concern with writing as a craft. It highlights Bobkowski's affinity to Katherine Mansfield, a formative influence, as well as to several contemporary writers, particularly Thomas Merton, Albert Camus, Kazimierz Wierzyński, and Witold Gombrowicz. The essay also addresses the importance of Bobkowski's relationship with Jerzy Giedroyc in regard to his evolving self-definition as an aspiring writer. The opening paragraphs sketch Andrzej Bobkowski's route on his travels through Southwestern France in 1940, which constitutes perhaps the most enchanting part of his longest prosaic work, Szkice piórkiem [Wartime Notebooks].