Ewolucja „Lamusa” – od lokalnego periodyku o charakterze literacko-artystycznym po quasi-naukowe czasopismo specjalistyczne o zasięgu ogólnopolskim

 Abstract   

The article concerns the literary and artistic magazine “Lamus” published in the years 1993-2014 in Gorzów Wielkopolski. It covers the periodical’s evolution over this period based on the magazine’s content. The aims of the article are to analyze the corpus and outline the background of local periodicals in order to highlight the role of “Lamus” in Gorzów Wielkopolski. At the time it was published, it was one of the most influential regional literary magazines. The position of “Lamus” was so strong that later – after a change in the editorial staff, from 2008 – it had nationwide coverage, being distributed in the network of the International Press and Book Club (EMPiK). The magazine helps us understand the literary scene in Gorzów Wielkopolski, centred on the “Lamus” Artists’ Tenement House. In its initial phase, the periodical was a forum for expressions of local artists, then – after a revolutionary change in graphic design and content – it somehow brought together the voices of Polish scientific, philological and artistic circles. The vision of the magazine has been changing especially since 2008, when Gabriela Balcerzakowa became the editor-in-chief (after Zbigniew Sejwa became the director of Kamienica Artystyczna). The article presents the content of selected issues and the characteristics of the magazine are based on interviews with Gabriela Balcerzakowa and Zbigniew Sejwa conducted at the Zbigniew Herbert Provincial and Municipal Public Library in Gorzów Wielkopolski in the summer of 2023 (July 28, 2023 – interview with Dr. Zbigniew Sejwa and August 7, 2023 – interview with Dr. Gabriela Balcerzakowa). The recorded material was used to outline the vision and mission of the creators of “Lamus” after 2008. Published semi-annually from then on, the periodical pretended to be a specialized quasi-scientific journal. It should be noted that the editor-in-chief – despite the proposal – did not intend to give “Lamus” the status of a bullet journal. Although the magazine underwent a revolutionary change and acquired permanent readers, the last issue was published in 2014. The reason for suspending the publication of the periodical was the merger of the “Lamus” Artistic Tenement House with the Municipal Art Center into one local government cultural institution. Then Sejwa stopped serving as the director of the Kamienica. The idea of ​​creating a magazine based on Gorzów that would go beyond the local environment has in a sense become established – after all, the semi-annual was successfully published for six years. Ultimately, due to financial reasons (the decision to merge cultural institutions to find savings in the city budget), “Lamus” became a part of the history of regional literary and artistic magazines.