18 November 1935, Monday

Drogobych. Bruno Schulz writes a letter to Tadeusz Breza and Zofia Nyczówna.

The first part of Schulz’s letter to the two friends is addressed to Zofia Nyczówna*, Tadeusz Breza’s fiancée. First, Schulz apologizes for his long silence. Then he bitterly mentions his – still dragging – efforts for a creative leave. He also asks Nyczówna to take care of his own fiancée Józefina Szelińska*, who had come to Warsaw not that long before*.

In the fragments of letters to Tadeusz Breza, the prose writer and editor of Kurier Poranny*, Schulz asks about the future of his addressee’s debut novel1: “Where are you going to publish it? This book must [be] published in a noble and exquisite manner: good paper, beautiful font”2. On the other hand, he confesses to his own creative crisis: “My work3 is progressing very slowly. I haven’t had any good times. On vacation, I couldn’t write anything. Now, when I could write – there comes the school”4.

At the end, he plans to come to Warsaw even before the New Year – this time he would like to stay in the capital for longer if finances allow it and, if he finally gets a vacation, to continue his literary work. He asks Breza, as he asked Nyczówna, to take care of Szelińska.

See also: 6 October 1935*, 1 January – 30 June 1936*. (jo)

  • 1
    Breza’s debut novel Adam Grywałd was published in 1936 by Ferdinand Hoesick.
  • 2
    Bruno Schulz’s letter to Tadeusz and Zofia Breza of 18 November 1935, [in:] Bruno Schulz, Dzieła zebrane, volume 5: Księga listów, collected and edited by Jerzy Ficowski, supplemented by Stanisław Danecki, Gdańsk 2016, p. 56.
  • 3
    Schulz is probably talking about Messiah*, a missing (and probably unfinished) novel that was supposed to be his opus magnum.
  • 4
    Bruno Schulz’s Letter to Tadeusz and Zofia…, [in:] Bruno Schulz, op. cit., p. 56.