On June 10, Justyna Janiszewska, Executive Director of the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission, and Professor Bogumiła Kaniewska, Rector of Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU), signed an agreement to establish the Fulbright Writer-in-Residence scholarship at AMU in Poznań.
The Fulbright Writer-in-Residence at AMU is the first university-affiliated residency of its kind in the history of Polish higher education. Initiated by the Center for the Affirmation of Literature at AMU and co-financed by AMU and the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission, this program welcomes writers from the United States at any career stage. The inaugural recipient will undertake a 4.5-month residency during the spring semester of 2025/26. During their stay, they will teach students in the artistic-literary studies track of the Polish Philology program and the Writing Arts program at the Faculty of Polish and Classical Philology. Additionally, they will engage in open lectures, panel discussions, and the 2026 Fiction Festival. Candidates for this scholarship will be selected through the Fulbright program.
“We want to be present in initiatives that contribute to the transfer of best practices from the United States to Poland and from Poland to the United States. I hope we will meet this challenge, that every year we will be able to recruit and provide the University with the best lecturers, artists, and writers who will represent American culture here, but also a certain culture of creativity,” said our Executive Director.
Justyna Janiszewska also thanked Dr. Krzysztof Hoffmann, Director of the Center for the Affirmation of Literature, who was present at the ceremony, emphasizing, “I would like to highlight that Krzysztof Hoffmann, the driving force behind this program, is a Fulbright Program alumnus. He was one of the first alumni of the Fulbright Slavic Award program.”
Prof. Bogumiła Kaniewska spoke about the significance of literature and research on it in the contemporary world: “The fact that the first writer’s residency directly affiliated with a university in the history of Polish higher education is being established at AMU once again places our university at the forefront of institutions that want to respond to contemporary needs, not only in the technical-technological dimension, though it is important, but also in the humanistic one. I am pleased that AMU will have the chance to host distinguished American writers who will not only pursue their own artistic endeavors but also engage in dialogue with our students, the university community, and the city’s residents.”
Representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Poland also participated in the event. Monica Damberg-Ott, Deputy Cultural Attaché, highlighted, “It is no coincidence that Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań can boast such a large number of Fulbright alumni. Since the program’s inception, AMU has played a key role in the success of the Fulbright program in Poland. AMU is home to 88 Polish Fulbright grantees.”
