Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855) is a towering figure in Central and East European literary history.  You'll find monuments to him in three national capitals—Warsaw, Minsk, and Vilnius—as well as the Ukrainian city of Lviv.  In Krakow, he's buried in the Wawel, alongside Polish kings.  Haven't heard of him?  Me neither, not till long after I finished my Ph.D.

In 2009, I visited Kraków for the first time.  One day I bought a book by Wysława Symborska (1923-2012) and carried it around with me for a few hours.  Everywhere I went people stopped me to ask what I thought about her poetry.  I spoke at length with a hotel clerk and a grandmother on a bench in a park. I can't imagine anything similar happening in the United States.