In 1998, she obtained a master's degree in solid state physics. In 2004, she received a doctorate in physical sciences at the Lodz University of Technology. Her doctoral dissertation was awarded with honours. In 2015, the Council of the Faculty of Physics of the Warsaw University of Technology awarded her with the degree of habilitated doctor. Works at the Institute of Physics of the Lodz University of Technology. Her non-scientific passion, from an early age, is poetry.
You live simultaneously in two different extreme worlds - the world of science and the world of poetry. What do you think connects physics with poetry?
These two different worlds have defined me as a human being with a broad spectrum of interests from a young age. I connect the worlds of physics and poetry with the help of my imagination and intuition, which are characteristic for both. In my case, it involves the use of analytical thinking in combination with the gift of pouring words on paper.
The poems that emerge from under my pen are decorated with rhymes, arranged into a coherent whole and filled with emotions. Writing them, I think like an inspired humanist with vigilance of physicist. I like to play with words while not forgetting about the meaningful message.
Were you interested in the humanities or science in high school? What profile did your class have?
I attended a class with a mathematical-physical profile. Of course, in high school I was interested in science, which does not change the fact that I was very committed to the Polish language. I was happy to write essays or dissertations and even happened to create a few short stories at that time.
My marriage with poetry started in high school and continues. At first I was interested in fiction written in prose, but in a short time I also felt a great love for poetry. Poetry became a way for me to express my own personality, beliefs and feeling of the world.
In 2017, your debut volume of poems was published, entitled Płyń poezjo słów potokiem... [Flow Poetry in a Stream Words...], published by the Publishing House of Lodz University of Technology. How long did the poems for this edition come into being?
I have been writing poems that were included in my debut volume for thirty years. It sounds quite grotesque, but it is true. For example, the poem A gdybym zechciała być różą? [What if I wanted to be a rose?] I wrote it when I was seventeen years old and it is not the only piece from that period that has been included in this volume. After many years I finally noticed that writing in order to lock my writing in the sock drawer was a mistake and I wanted to show my sensitive interior to the world.
From your poems flows love to people, to nature and a positive attitude to the world. When does the need to write poetry appear, to enter the world of poetry?
I always create under the influence of the moment. Then I feel the need to convey a specific message, a significant emotion, grows inside me. I call it a "God's spark" that jumps between reason and heart and gives life to a new thought, which in turn is an invitation to create a larger piece.
There are many reasons for the poems. It is enough to feel unlimited happiness from existence, from the possibility to love and be loved, to observe nature and people. Of course, there are such stimuli as a sense of sadness, anger, regret or disappointment - after all, humani nihil a me alienum puto. My poems also "speak" of such situations and an attempt to bear them.
You love the Tatras mountains. You dedicated a few poems to them. Poems are written out of longing for your favourite, beloved places?
I love the Tatra Mountains and I always admire their magnificence, not only when I am on the trail. I feel humility towards nature and at the same time great joy from every hike. My poems are marked by a longing for my beloved places, to which I want to return many times.
Your poems were included in the 10th jubilee series Wiersze sercem pisane [Poems written with Heart], promoting authors who transform their sensitivity into poetry. For how many years have you published your poems in the Anthology of Modern Poets?
I have been publishing in anthologies for two years, through the Wroclaw Publishing House Astrum, which approached me with a proposal. Thanks to this, several dozen of my poems have been published in print, in several anthologies entitled Wiersze sercem pisane, Zanim zabierze nas wiatr, Modlitwy, Kobieta zmienną jest, Zanim nadejdzie burza and Modlitwa o miłość [Poems written with Heart, Before the Wind Takes Us, Prayers, Woman Is Changeable, Before the Storm Comes and Prayer for Love].
You write out of the need of the heart. When was your second volume of poems written?
The second volume, entitled Magia słów [The Magic of Words], was created two years after the debut volume of the Płyń poezjo słów potokiem… [Flow Poetry in a Stream Words...], which, as I have already mentioned, includes poems from three decades. The possibility of making my dream come true - to publish the volume of my own work - caused me a huge avalanche of positive emotions, so strong that subsequent poems were written at an express pace.
The second volume contains works written between 2018 and 2019 and, like the first one, counts nearly two hundred poems. While such a number of works in the case of the first volume is not surprising, in the second one it may seem dizzying for such a short period.
You are happy to share your work with the academic community of TUL on various occasions.
After the publication of my first volume in print, Mrs. Grażyna Sikorska, who organized concerts in the Music at the Polytechnic, contributed to the promotion of my work. Thanks to her, I presented several poems as part of the final concert of the 10th International Music Festival Spring in June 2017.
The next meeting with my poetry was the participation in the "Literary Atrium" at the TUL in March 2018. This cyclical event is organized by Mr. Włodzimierz Galicki from the TUL Library.
Thanks to such invitations I can share my love for poetry with a wide range of the academic community. It is an invaluable experience, bringing a lot of joy to both sides.
Why is it worth having a passion in life?
Passion is a mission to be approached with a wide open heart and mind. Every person gifted with talent, in various areas of life, should develop his or her passion because it makes him or her a better version of themselves.
Interview by Małgorzata Trocha.