Gawęda (Polish pronunciation: [ɡaˈvɛnda]) is a genre of Polish oral folklore, as well as an epic literary genre of works stylized as an oral tale, characterized by freedom of composition, rich in digressions, and written in language close to colloquial language.
Melchior Wańkowicz is recognized as a 20th century representative of the gawęda style, as exemplified by his autobiographical coming of the age novel Tędy i owędy ("Here and There").
Other authors in this line included K. Gaszyński (Kontuszowe pogadanki—Kontusz Chats), Władysław Syrokomla (Urodzony Jan Dęboróg—Jan Dęboróg), Wincenty Pol (Wieczór przy kominku—An Evening by the Fire), A. Gorczyński, K.W.
[5][6] Gawęda elements may be found in works by Adam Mickiewicz (Pan Tadeusz), Juliusz Słowacki (Preliminaria peregrynacji do Ziemi Świętej JO.
księcia Radziwiłła Sierotki—Preliminaries to the Peregrination to the Holy Land of Prince Radziwiłł the Orphan),[7] and in Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trilogy.