Die Poesie hängt die weiße Flagge aus

»True poetry cannot exist without encountering the mind.« According to Adam Zagajewski, these encounters lend poetry colour with questions, enthusiasms, and doubts, and are its essence. In this his ceremonial address at the awarding of the 2016 Lucas Prize, he describes what he understands poetry to be and what he requires of it. Poetry should not turn from the everyday, for the real and concrete are what nourishes it. Adam Zagajewski does not regard poetry as an answer, but rather as a pause between events in the world that cannot be grasped. Zagajewski's works are shaped by philosophical and theological aspects and build bridges of encountering and understanding between East and West Europe and the North American continent.