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"Celebrating Modjeska in California: History of Helena Modjeska Art & Culture Club" is a 428-page case study of a Polish-American organization, active since 1971. This volume reveals the interests, activities, accomplishments, and challenges of successive waves of Polish immigrants to California, especially the generation of the Displaced Persons (survivors and veterans of World War II, mostly interwar Polish intelligentsia), and of the Solidarity-era immigrants. The book is dedicated to "all Polish émigrés and exiles dispersed throughout the world who remained faithful to the Polish language and culture," especially to all the volunteers of the Modjeska Club, promoting Polish culture in California. Organized into ten chapters, the book starts from a biography of the Club's patron, Polish actress Helena Modjeska (Modrzejewska, 1840-1909); a survey of Polish Americans and their organizations in California; and a biography of the Club's founder, actor-director Leonidas Dudarew-Ossetyński (1910-1989). Six chapters are dedicated to distinct "eras" in the Club's history: the Kingdom of Leonidas (1971-1978), the times of Solidarity immigrants (1978-1989), the Third Republic of Poland (1989-1998), the period of stabilization and status quo (1998-2010), the arrival of new people and ideas (2010-2018), and surviving challenges (2018-2023). The tenth chapter is a summary with conclusions and recommendations. The book includes an index and many illustrations from the archives of: the Modjeska Club, Polish Museum of America in Chicago, Valerie Dudarew-Ossetyńska Hunken - the founder's daughter, American Council of Polish Culture, and other private and public archives. All net revenue is donated to the Modjeska Club. The author, Maja Trochimczyk, Ph.D., a Polish American music historian, poet, photographer and non-profit director, served as President of Modjeska Club in 2010-12 and since 2018.

This collection of 129 poems by Marlene Hitt (b. 1936) was written over a period of almost 40 years. The first Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, a member of Chuparosa Poets, Village Poets, and other poetry groups, Marlene Hitt practiced her writing in near isolation from the "official" poetry world, while dedicating her time to the local community, as a historian, poet, and activist. She was the first Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga, member of the Village Poets in 1999, and co-editor of our 10th anniversary anthology We Are here: Village Poets Anthology" in 2020 (with Maja Trochimczyk). This book is a fruit of her poetic insights, her gifts of keen observation, reflection, and vivid expression. In 2015, Moonrise Press published "Clocks and Water Drops," Hitt's first full-length poetry volume. The current collection reprints some of these poems, and gathers other work scattered in various publications over the years. But there are plenty of poems here that never saw the light of the day and are here to enlighten and inspire us. Poet and flautist Alice Pero (the 10th Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga) assisted Marlene in selecting poems from thousands of pages and arranging them into seven chapters with distinct moods, ending with an euphonious title poem "Yellow Tree Alone," that shines with the gold leaves of Marlene's unique talent.

Hanna Kulenty, a Polish-Dutch composer, is the author of more than a hundred compositions (solo, chamber music, symphonies, opera, theater and film). Her works have been performed on all continents and she taught at many music institutions (Poland, USA, Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Lithuania). In 1990 she was a guest composer of the DAAD in Berlin and now is a professor in Bydgoszcz, Poland. She is the laureate of many awards, incl. the first place in the 50th International Tribune of UNESCO Composers and Mozart Medal from UNESCO International Music Council for the First Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (2003).Kulenty's first book "Odwrocony Dom" /"The Upside-Down House" consists of two parts and this is the second part of the surrealist novel. Initially, it was the composer's attempt to quickly record a collection of strange dreams and visions. She added facts from her life, philosophical thoughts and fantasies. Is it surrealism or realism? ... The "Odwrocony Dom" is inverted or reflected in the mirror - as in an image by Magritte.

Edited by Maja Trochimczyk, and illustrated with paintings by Ambika Talwar, the "Crystal Fire" anthology gathers poems of joy and wisdom by 12 poets, 8 women and 4 men: El¿bieta Czajkowska, Joe DeCenzo, Mary Elliott, Jeff Graham, Marlene Hitt, Frederick Livingston, Alice Pero, Allegra Silberstein, Jane Stuart, Ambika Talwar, Bory Thach, and Maja Trochimczyk. The poets span all ages and diverse life experiences. They include émigrés from Poland, Cambodia, and India, and those born in the U.S. College professors join community poets. Native speakers appear alongside those for whom English is the second, or even the third language. The "joy and wisdom" they write about are also different, as each poet follows their own path and gathers unique reflections to share with their readers.The phrase of "Crystal Fire" may be seen as the symbol of all humanity, with each person born from the union of man and woman, the male and female DNA strands interlocking in ever new patterns to create human beings. In this phrase, "Crystal" stands for the feminine and "Fire" for the masculine. "Crystal" is peaceful, somewhat static, but well-constructed, stable, and growing slowly into perfection. It is the cosmos of order and being. Remember, only women give birth (though some want to construct artificial wombs and detach humanity from its roots). In contrast, "Fire" is dynamic, sometimes intensely dramatic, always changing, always transforming, constantly in the state of flux. It is the energy of change and growth. It is also destructive, demolishing solid structures of the past to make room for the new. "Fire" means destruction and becoming. It is pure chaos. The Universe arises from the dance of these twin forces, like yin and yang, but neither is pure darkness, negative and "evil" and neither is pure light, positive, and "good." Instead, they are the ageless vortex of cosmic unity and chaos, of creation and destruction. There is no value assigned to this polarity, for such labels are limiting and deceptive. Both aspects are essential, each cannot exist without its twin. Both are good AND evil, both are positive AND negative. "Good and positive" when coupled with the other. "Evil and negative" when alone. These are the polar opposites of stagnation and decline-or constant movement and the total destruction of all life. The feminine elements of "earth" and "water" endlessly dance with the masculine elements of "air" and "fire."

This is an abridged reprint in gender-neutral language of a 19th century translation of "Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata" by Benedict de Spinoza (Baruch Spinoza, 1632-1677) first published in 1677. The 1883 translation by William Hale White (1831-1913), was rendered gender-neutral by Dr. Maja Trochimczyk. This second volume of Moonrise Press's Classic Wisdom Book Series, consists of five parts: I. Of God; II. Of The Nature and Origin of the Mind, III. Of The Origin and Nature of the Affects; IV. Of Human Bondage, or of the Strength of the Affects. And V. Of The Power of the Intellect, or Of Human Liberty.Born in a Jewish-Portuguese family in Amsterdam in 1621, at 23, Spinoza was expelled from the Jewish community and is buried in a Christian church in The Hague (he died at 44, in 1677). He was neither Jewish nor Christian in his views, and, from today's perspective may be called one of the Classics of Awakened Wisdom, aware of the intrinsic unity of the Universe with God, the Source of all.

This volume brings together a series of essays on some of the less known aspects ofmusic culture in Poland in the 19th century. Eight studies are presented chronologically, including such topics as: careers of women composers, Karol Lipinski's concert tours and violins, Henryk Wieniawski, Polish reception of Wagner, images of composers by Polish music critics, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and Feliks Nowowiejski. Authors, based in Poland, Germany and the U.S. include eminent scholars specializing in Polish music of the 19th and 20th centuries: Magdalena Dziadek,Maria Zduniak, Martina Homma, Krzysztof Rottermund, Krzysztof Szatrawski, and Maja Trochimczyk.

Edited by Maja Trochimczyk, and illustrated with paintings by Ambika Talwar, the "Crystal Fire" anthology gathers poems of joy and wisdom by 12 poets, 8 women and 4 men: El¿bieta Czajkowska, Joe DeCenzo, Mary Elliott, Jeff Graham, Marlene Hitt, Frederick Livingston, Alice Pero, Allegra Silberstein, Jane Stuart, Ambika Talwar, Bory Thach, and Maja Trochimczyk. The poets span all ages and diverse life experiences. They include émigrés from Poland, Cambodia, and India, and those born in the U.S. College professors join community poets. Native speakers appear alongside those for whom English is the second, or even the third language. The "joy and wisdom" they write about are also different, as each poet follows their own path and gathers unique reflections to share with their readers.The phrase of "Crystal Fire" may be seen as the symbol of all humanity, with each person born from the union of man and woman, the male and female DNA strands interlocking in ever new patterns to create human beings. In this phrase, "Crystal" stands for the feminine and "Fire" for the masculine. "Crystal" is peaceful, somewhat static, but well-constructed, stable, and growing slowly into perfection. It is the cosmos of order and being. Remember, only women give birth (though some want to construct artificial wombs and detach humanity from its roots). In contrast, "Fire" is dynamic, sometimes intensely dramatic, always changing, always transforming, constantly in the state of flux. It is the energy of change and growth. It is also destructive, demolishing solid structures of the past to make room for the new. "Fire" means destruction and becoming. It is pure chaos. The Universe arises from the dance of these twin forces, like yin and yang, but neither is pure darkness, negative and "evil" and neither is pure light, positive, and "good." Instead, they are the ageless vortex of cosmic unity and chaos, of creation and destruction. There is no value assigned to this polarity, for such labels are limiting and deceptive. Both aspects are essential, each cannot exist without its twin. Both are good AND evil, both are positive AND negative. "Good and positive" when coupled with the other. "Evil and negative" when alone. These are the polar opposites of stagnation and decline-or constant movement and the total destruction of all life. The feminine elements of "earth" and "water" endlessly dance with the masculine elements of "air" and "fire."

The Rainy Bread: More Poems from Exile presents 63 poems about forgotten stories of Poles living under the Soviet and German occupation during WWII, especially in the Eastern Borderlands or "Kresy." They were killed, deported, imprisoned, or starved after the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939. Some of these brief portraits capture the trauma, resilience, ordeals, and miraculous survival stories of the author's immediate family. Their experiences of displacement, hunger, cold, and poverty during the war are typical of Polish civilians. These fictionalized memories are coupled with depictions of survival of other Poles deported to Siberia, the Arctic Circle, or Kazakhstan; those left the Soviet Union with the Second Corps of the Polish Army under the command of General W¿adys¿aw Anders; those who were transported to refugee camps in India or Africa; and ended up in Argentina, Canada, Australia or the U.S. The book is an expanded edition of The Rainy Bread: Poems from Exile (2016) and a companion to Slicing the Bread (2014). Organized into six parts - Destinations, Nowhere, Hunger Years, Resilience, There and Back, What Remains - the updated book follows a trajectory of descent into hell of deportations, imprisonment, hunger, mass murder, and the ascent into resilience and survival. At the end, the dark rain of sorrow changes into the diamond rain of delight, as life triumphs over death, love over fear.Maja Trochimczyk, Ph.D., is a Polish American poet, music historian, photographer, and author of seven books on music, most recently Górecki in Context: Essays on Music (2017) and Frédéric Chopin: A Research and Information Guide (co-edited with William Smialek, 2015). She currently serves as the President of the California State Poetry Society, managing editor of the California Quarterly, and the President of the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club in Los Angeles, promoting Polish culture in California. Trochimczyk's nine books of poetry include Rose Always, Miriam's Iris, Slicing the Bread, Into Light, and four anthologies, Chopin with Cherries (2010), Meditations on Divine Names (2012), Grateful Conversations: A Poetry Anthology (2018) and We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology (2020).

This anthology with work by over 80 American poets celebrates the tenth anniversary of Village Poets Monthly Readings, held since 2010 at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga, California - a Historical Landmark in the City of Los Angeles. The Village Poets have also held events at the McGroarty Arts Center, the former home of the California Poet-Laureate in 1933-1944, John Steven McGroarty. His Poet-Laureate role inspired the local Poet-Laureate program, initiated in 1999. The anthology's editors are both former Poets-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga: Marlene Hitt was the First, in 1999-2001 and Dr. Maja Trochimczyk served as the Sixth in 2010-2012 when the readings were initiated. The book consists of two parts: Guests and Featured Poets, represented by 1-3 poems each; and Poets-Laureate, with 10 poets, represented by 6-9 poems each. A list of Village Poets Readings, a brief history of the program, and biographies of the poets are included.

This volume gathers interviews with and studies of the music of Henryk Miko¿aj Górecki (1933-2010). Interviews span his career (1962-2008) and studies are by Górecki scholars from Poland, the U.K., the U.S., and Australia. Chapters highlight three symphonies: the Second Copernican (Kiwäa), the Third Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (Trochimczyk) and the Fourth Tansman Episodes (Wendland). Two studies by eminent scholar and Górecki's personal friend, Prof. Teresa Malecka present his links to tradition and his piano music. The volume also includes an overview of Górecki's career, list of works, music examples, portraits, photographs, and a bibliography. Maja Trochimczyk, Ph.D., is a music historian, poet, photographer, and non-profit director born in Poland and living in California (www.trochimczyk.net). Her work on Górecki was previously published in the Musical Quarterly, the Polish Music Journal, and Organized Sound. She published six books on music, six volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles and poems.

During the summer of 1934, two Polish amateur-pilots, Joe (Józef) and Ben (Boles¿aw) Adamowicz, who immigrated to the US more than twenty years earlier, flew over the Atlantic on a single-engine plane Bellanca. Their trip took them from New York to Warsaw; they were the first Poles to do so. They became instant celebrities, favorites of the journalists, photographers, and the public on both sides of the Atlantic. Alas, their triumph was short-lived, followed by a fall from grace, to imprisonment and bankruptcy. This richly illustrated book brings to life their forgotten story. Written by a historian, journalist and educator Zofia Reklewska-Braun and director, writer, scholar, and author of over 50 books, Dr. Kazimierz Braun, this book was originally published in Poland in 2011.

"Clocks and Water Drops" is the first full-length collection of poetry by Marlene Hitt, the first Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, a former Director at the Bolton Hall Museum, a local historian, poet, and community activist. The book of reflections about her life, family and neighborhood changing through the decades, includes 73 poems in sections dedicated to: Children, Marriages, Portraits, Neighbors, Seasons, Small Things, Passages, and Farewells. The title captures the poet's fascination with the flow of time, as relentless and powerful as drops of water that can shape rocks and move mountains. Poet Jack Cooper praises Hitt's "astute and thoughtful voice" while Kath Abela Wilson admires her "confident and consistent phrasing, and exacting vision."