Unwritten Pages: The Blackpool Chapter of Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska

During the 1940s, the poet lived in Blackpool with her husband Stefan Jasnorzewski, who served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Now, nearly eighty years later, filmmaker Adriana Kulig is searching for archival photographs, memories, or local stories that could help tell the story of the couple’s time in the seaside town.

“I would love to include archival images from the poet’s time in Blackpool — photos of the town from the 1940s, the hotels where she stayed such as Trafalgar and Waterloo, and the RAF base where her husband served,” says Kulig. These traces of the past may help revive her story — and remind us that Blackpool once offered refuge and creative inspiration to one of Poland’s most remarkable poetic voices.

Born in Kraków in 1891, Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska belonged to the illustrious Kossak family — one of Poland’s most influential artistic dynasties. Her grandfather Juliusz Kossak and father Wojciech Kossak were renowned painters, while her sister Magdalena Samozwaniec became a much-loved writer and satirist. Within that creative household, Maria found her voice as a poet. Her later years — shaped by war, emigration, and nostalgia — were among the most poignant in her creative life. She passed away in Manchester in 1945, where she is buried.

Despite her literary fame in Poland, little is known about her time in Blackpool. That is what Adriana Kulig’s new documentary — currently in production — hopes to change. The film, titled Wojnę szatan spłodził. Film o Marii Pawlikowskiej-Jasnorzewskiej, is being created in collaboration with The Union of Polish Writers Abroad (Związek Pisarzy Polskich na Obczyźnie) and with financial support from the Polish Ex-Combatants Association Foundation (SPK) and the Polonia Aid Foundation Trust (PAFT). It forms part of the Year of Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska 2025, a wider celebration of her life and work.

The documentary will combine expert commentary, archival materials and dramatized sequences. Actors Patrycja Zając and Adam Hypki portray Maria and Stefan Jasnorzewski, with contributions from writer and cultural researcher Rafał Podraza. The project was initiated by Regina Wasiak-Taylor, Chair of The Union of Polish Writers Abroad, with the aim of bringing the poet’s émigré years into clearer focus for a wider audience.

Anyone who may have photographs, personal stories or information about Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, her husband, or Blackpool in the 1940s, is encouraged to contact the filmmaker directly: [email protected].