Greetings! I had hoped to begin this column with a postmortem to the COVID pandemic, but that may have to wait. Yet there are many reasons for optimism. A year ago, we had hoped that the pandemic would be sufficiently behind us to plan our international meeting in Białystok, which we were then forced to cancel. We can now look forward to doing so with confidence. A year ago, our office in New York was closed to visitors, as was the city itself. Today we are preparing to restore normal business operations and to welcome you again to our facilities. Meetings of the PIASA board have been held virtually since March 2020. We can now think about the restoration of in-person gatherings.
We have also learned a good deal. Unable to have “normal” award ceremonies two years in a row, we hosted virtual events featuring our 2020 award recipients. For those of you who could not attend the first time around, we invite you to view the recordings on our website. We have found other ways to make ourselves visible through our revamped website and this very newsletter. The Polish Review is becoming the top shelf journal we had always hoped it to be, reflected in the number and quality of submissions and leaps in readership. Finally, after years of stagnation, membership is up and PIASA is becoming a genuinely international organization. All these signs encourage us to believe in a brighter future. We hope to see you soon!
― Robert Blobaum, PIASA President
