Wislawa Szymborska has nothing but sympathy for the labors of would-be writers generally: "I myself started out with rotten poetry and stories," she confesses in this guide, all pieces culled from the advice she gave--anonymously--for many years in the well-known Polish journal Literary Life. She returns time and again to the mundane business of writing poetry properly, that is to say, painstakingly and sparingly. "I feel the inspiration to become a poet," Miss A. P. from Bialogard exclaims. "I feel the compulsion to become an editor," Szymborska responds. In her own how-to guide for would-be writers, Szymborska stubbornly insists on poetry's "prosaic side." "Let's take the wings off and try writing on foot, shall we?" she urges the hapless Grazyna from Starachowice in one letter.

(Szymborska used the first-person plural not as the queenly prerogative of a future Nobel Laureate, but to maintain her anonymity, since the past tense of Polish verbs reveals its user's gender, and she was the only woman on Literary Life's editorial staff who answered letters.) To Kali of Lodz: "'Why' is the most important word in this planet's language, and probably in that of other galaxies as well." To E.L. in Warsaw: "Perhaps you could learn to love in prose." This delightful compilation, translated by the peerless Clare Cavanagh, will delight readers and writers alike--and also will be a great aid to beginners.