[:en]Iwona Haberny, principal of OKO Agency, acted as the Polish coordinator of the Krakow Poetry Symposium: International Poets in Conversation, which was organized and hosted by the Poetry Foundation’s Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute. This week-long series of events, held June 17-21, 2013, featured over a dozen American, Polish, and other European poets in panel discussions, talks, translation seminars, and readings throughout the city of Krakow. Almost all of these events were open to the public at no charge. The Poetry Foundation is devoted to ensuring a vigorous presence for poetry in American culture. As a small, non-profit organization based in the United States, the Foundation relied heavily on Ms. Haberny to help design and execute a successful event. Ms. Habernv worked hard to accommodate the differences in business culture between the two countries. This, along with her extensive contacts and good will accrued through the years, secured the confidence of the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute as she negotiated on behalf of the Symposium and represented its interests to the city of Krakow cultural affairs office, Jagollonien University, the US Consulate, among others. The Symposium was deemed a universal success by participants and audiences alike. This success was due, in large part, to Iwona Habeny’s efforts. Ms. Haberny possesses superior organizational capabilities and a stringent eye for detail. She is thorough, flexible, and a pleasure to work with. We wish her further success working with organizations to organize events, cultural and otherwise, in Krakow.
Sincerely,
Ilya Kaminsky
Director, Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute
The Poetry Foundation