The Polish Kafka, a writer’s writer, a master of the Polish language, an artistic genius. Bruno Schulz (1892–1942) is a name invoked by writers and artists across continents but one that has yet to find its proper resonance among Czech readers. In Bruno Schulz’s writings and graphic art, the sacred and the perverse become one. To renew life through the power of delight, to liberate hidden grace, to flood his readers with happiness – these were the ambitious goals that Bruno Schulz, a polish Jew from the town of Drohobych, set for himself while the world around him darkened with impending doom.

In his recently published portrait of Bruno Schulz, Benjamin Balint attempts much more than simply to reconstruct the artist’s life or interpret his art. An American-Israeli but also a descendant of Central and Eastern European Jews, Balint takes the subject personally. His exploration of Bruno Schulz’s life, death, and tumultuous afterlife is a part of his own story, a path to self-discovery, and a quest for the lost world of Eastern European Jewry.

Benjamin Balint will discuss the life of Bruno Schulz and more in a conversation with Magdaléna Platzová.