Czesław Miłosz

Andrzejewski was a close friend in wartime Poland; he also met Szymborska at this time. Camus became an important friend in Paris, where Éluard and Neruda (he had mixed feelings about Neruda) went to parties with him. In America, Einstein warned him about the dangers of exile, Ginsberg paid him a back-handed compliment, and Merton engaged him in a lively decade-long correspondence. He translated, corresponded with and famously fought with Herbert. His friend Gombrowicz said he’d had to contend with strife, torment and doubts previously unknown to writers. Brodsky, another friend, admired him hugely.