Jacek Dehnel (b. 1980) is the author of poetry, novels and short stories, translations from English (including such authors as Larkin, Coetzee, Faulkner) and a painter.

In his poetry, ever since his debut volume, The Parallel Lives [Żywoty równoległe], which received Poland’s prestigious Kościelski Prize, Jacek Dehnel has consistently composed forms that the critics refer to as “aestheticizing neoclassicism, approaching academism” (Anna Kałuża). One could venture the opinion that Dehnel has restored Polish classicist verse to where it properly belongs: with the international cultural universe. Dehnel the poet often turns towards the past, his lyric drawsmarkedly on modernism. On the surface his poetry may strike one as pointedly old-fashioned; he nevertheless frequently blends the past with the present (in the book Journey South [Wyprawa na południe], for instance, all poems are antedated with early 20th-century dates). He also often resorts to stylization and, somewhat less frequently, to such means as pastiche or paraphrase.

In his poetry, it should be noted, Jacek Dehnel is acutely perceptive of what is in fact relative. He breaks relativity down to clearly delineated situations, which cannot remain relative if they are to be the image of the reality: they require unconditional fulfilment.

As a fiction writer, Jacek Dehnel debuted with The Collection [Kolekcja] (1999), a book of short stories, but he owes his popularity and critical acclaim (Polityka’s Passport in 2006, the Angelus Central European Literature Award nomination in 2007, and the European Union Prize for Literature in 2009) to his first novel, Lala (2006), a family saga with a clearly autobiographical theme in which the central protagonist is the author’s grandmother, the eponymous Lala. The grandson in the novel is fascinated by the unconventional old lady and intrigued by the stories she tells, stories that run in the family as well as stories from the history of Europe’s inteligentsia. At the same time Lala is a heartbreaking story of transience, sickness and death. Dehnel’s depictions of the dutiful care a grandson delivers to his sick grandmother are exceptionally poignant and deep, which makes Lala probably one of the most absorbing instances of senioral fiction in Polish prose.

The short story collection Marketplace in Smyrna [Rynek w Smyrnie] from 2007 contains texts written in years 1999-2002 by a very young author, which nevertheless show the characteristic traits of Dehnel’s writing: the refined style, the themes typical of high modernist fiction, the multitude of cultural references, the propensity for pastiche and stylization. In the short fictions included in The Balzacian Stories [Balzakiana], published the following year, he ostensibly turned to the present. Drawing inspiration from The Human Comedy, he sought to portray the make-up of the modern Polish society against the backdrop of the final days of the Polish People’s Republic and the first years of the democratic state. Suffice it to say that for a portrayal of this sort Dehnel’s is somewhat eccentric, for in so far as he writes about the present, his major occupation in the stories is the past. Some of the stories’ protagonists seem to be completely submerged in it.

In his subsequent novels, Saturn [Saturn] (2011) and Mother Makryna [Matka Makryna] (2014), Dehnel develops a new model for his fiction, in which biographical stories are intertwined with the fictional fortunes and misfortunes of both major and lesser historical figures. The main protagonist of Saturn is the painter Francisco Goya, although the figure of his son, on whom historical sources offer little information, plays an equally important role in the book. In an effort to understand one of the artist’s particularly intriguing works, the group of frescoes known as The Black Paintings, Dehnel evokes traumatic relationships inside Goia’s family. In Mother Makryna, shortlisted for the Nike Literary Award 2015, the writer takes on the Romantic era and the figure of Makryna Mieczysławska. In the 19th-century Europe she rose to fame as a Catholic martyr, and it was only after her death that she was found to have been a shrewd impostor. In a bold stylistic feat, the writer depicts the mechanisms of the era’s media manipulation that made it possible for Mieczysławska to become one of the key figures of Polish political emigration; at the same time he tells the story of a woman suffering the experience of life-long humiliation, determined to fight for her dignity at any cost.

Two books by Dehnel stand apart from his principal novelist preoccupations. The Fotoplastikon [Fotoplastykon] (2009) is a collection of ecphrases, i.e. literary descriptions of works of art. In this instance they are the depictions of photographs and postcards, mainly from the 19^th and early 20^th century. The Junior Accountant [Młodszy księgowy] (2013) comprises pieces on various topics dealing with literary life and the author’s literary fascinations; the varia have a columnist twist to them.

Since 2015 he has collaborated with his husband Piotr Tarczyński on a series of crime novels set in Kraków at the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. They publish the novels under the pseudonym of Maryla Szymiczkowa. Dehnel is also the president of The Literary Union [Unia Literacka], a collective bargaining organisation acting on writers’ behalf.

For his work Jacek Dehnel has received numerous awards, which include the Silesian Literary Laurel [Śląski Wawrzyn Literacki] and the “Splendor Gedanensis” City of Gdańsk Award for Balzacian Stories (2009) (the latter also for his translations of Philip Larkin’s poetry), to name but afew. In 2015, his collaboration with Tarczyński, Mrs Mohr Goes Missing [Tajemnica Domu Helclów] earned the couple the award of the City of Kraków Book of the Month.

In 2019 the English translation of Lala (by Antonia Lloyd Jones) was nominated for the EBRD Literature Prize, while his selected poems published as Aperture (translated by Karen Kovacik) made it to the final of the PEN Award for Poetry Translation, and won an honorable mention.

Jacek Dehnel’s books were longlisted for the Angelus Central European Literature Award thrice (in 2007 for Lala, in 2012 for Saturn and in 2015 for Mother Makryna), five times for the Nike Literary Award (in 2009 for Balzacian Stories, in 2010 for The Test Pattern, which went on to be shorlisted, in 2012 for Saturn, in 2015 for Mother Makryna, shorlisted again, and in 2017 for Krivoklat). In 2014 his volume Foreign Languages [Języki obce] was also nominated for the Wisława Szymborska Award. In 2008 the Council of the Polish Language conferred on Dehnel the title of the Honorary Ambassador of the Polish Language, in 2011 the title of the Young Ambassador of the Polish Language. In 2015 he received the bronze Gloria Artis Medal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

POETRY

• Żywoty równoległe, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Zielona Sowa, 2004.
• Wyprawa na południe, Tychy: Teatr Mały, 2005.
• Wiersze (1999-2004), Warszawa: Lampa i Iskra Boża, 2006.
• Brzytwa okamgnienia, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2007.
• Ekran kontrolny, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2009.
• Rubryki strat i zysków, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2011.
• Języki obce, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2013.
• Seria w ciemność (wiersze wybrane), Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2016.
• Serce Chopina, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2018.
• Najdziwniejsze, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2019.
• Bruma, Kraków: Wydawnictwo a5, 2022.

FICTION

• Kolekcja, Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Marpress, 1999.

• Lala, Warszawa: W.A.B., 2006.
• Rynek w Smyrnie, Warszawa: W.A.B., 2007.
• Balzakiana, Warszawa: W.A.B., 2008.
• Fotoplastikon, Warszawa: W.A.B., 2009.
• Saturn. Czarne obrazy z życia mężczyzn z rodziny Goya, Warszawa: W.A.B., 2011.
• Rubryki strat i zysków, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2011.
• Młodszy księgowy. O książkach, czytaniu i pisaniu, Warszawa: W.A.B., 2013.
• Matka Makryna, Warszawa: GW Foksal/W.A.B., 2014.
• Dziennik roku chrystusowego, Warszawa: GW Foksal/W.A.B., 2015.
• Tajemnica domu Helclów, Kraków: Znak Literanova 2015; jako „Maryla Szymiczkowa (collaboration with Piotr Tarczyński).
• Krivoklat, Kraków: Znak, 2016.
• Rozdarta zasłona, Kraków: Znak, 2016, jako „Maryla Szymiczkowa” (collaboration with P. Tarczyński).
• Seans w Domu Egipskim, Kraków: Znak, 2018, jako „Maryla Szymiczkowa” (collaboration with P. Tarczyński).
• Ale z naszymi umarłymi, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2019.

• Złoty róg, Kraków: Znak Literanova, 2020, jako „Maryla Szymiczkowa” (collaboration with P. Tarczyński).

• Łabędzie, t. 1 i t. 2, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2023.

TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN LANGUAGES INTO POLISH

• Philip Larkin, Collected Poems, as: Zebrane, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2008.
• Kārlis Vērdiņš, selected works, as: Niosłem ci kanapeczkę, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2009.
• Edmund White, Hotel de Dream, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2012 (with Piotr Tarczyński)
• Chajim Nachman Bialik, Songs, as: Pieśni, Kraków: Austeria, 2012 (with Marzena Zawanowska)
• Francis Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, as: Wielki Gatsby, Kraków: Znak 2013.
• Henry James, The Turn of the Screw, as: Dokręcanie śruby, Warszawa: W.A.B. 2015.
• Philip Larkin, Girl in Winter, as: Zimowe królestwo, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2017
• Jerzy Pietrkiewicz, Loot and Loyalty, as: Zdobycz i wierność, Warszawa: W.A.B. 2018
• Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism, as: Dusza człowieka w socjalizmie, Kraków, Karakter, 2019.
• Philip Larkin, Śnieg w kwietniową niedzielę. 44 wiersze, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie, 2022.
• J. M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals, as: Żywoty zwierząt, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak, 2022.
• Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, as: Opowieść wigilijna, czyli kolęda prozą, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2022.
• William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, as: Gdy leżę konając, Kraków: Znak Literanova 2023.

TRANSLATIONS TO OTHER LANGUAGES

English:

• Saturn, transl. Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Dedalus Books, 2013.
• Lala, transl. Antonia Lloyd-Jones, London: Oneworld Publications 2019
• Aperture (wybór wierszy), transl. Karen Kovacik, Brookline (MA): Zephyr Press, 2018.
• Mrs Mohr Goes Missing [Tajemnica Domu Helclów], transl. Antonia Lloyd-Jones, London: Oneworld Publications, 2019 ; Mariner Books, 2020.
• Karolina, or The torn curtain, [Rozdarta zasłona], transl. Antonia Lloyd-Jones, London: Point Blank, 2021.

Croatian:

• Lala, transl. Adrian Cvitanovic, Zagreb: Fraktura, 2010.

Czech:

• Lala, transl. Michael Alexa, Praga: Větrné mlýny, 2015.

French:

• Saturne [Saturn], transl. Marie Bouvard, Lausanne: Les Éditions Noir sur Blanc, 2014.
• Krivoklat [Krivoklat], transl. Marie Bouvard, Paris : Noir sur Blanc, 2018.
• Madame Mohr a disparu [Tajemnica domu Helclów], transl. Marie Bouvard, Agullo, [Villenave d'Ornon],  2022.
• Le rideau déchiré [Rozdarta zasłona], transl. Cécile Bocianowski, Agullo, [Villenave d'Ornon], 2023.
• Séance à la Maison Egyptienne [Seans w domu egipskim], transl. Cécile Bocianowski, Agullo, [Villenave d'Ornon], 2024.

Hebrew:

• Lala, transl. Boris Gerus, Jerozolima: Keter, 2009.

Spanish:

• El Jardín de Lala [Lala], transl. Jerzy Sławomirski i Anna Rubió, Barcelona: Duomo Ediciones, 2012.

Lithuanian:

• Lialė [Lala], transl. Birutė Jonuškaitė, Vilnius: Kronta, 2010.

Dutch:

• Saturnus [Saturn], transl. Esselien't Hart, Baarn: Uitgeverij Marmer, 2012.

German:

• Lala [Lala], transl. Renate Schmidgall, Rowohlt, 2008.
• Saturn [Saturn], transl. Renate Schmidgall, München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2016.
• Aber mit unseren Toten [Ale z naszymi umarłymi], transl. Renate Schmidgall, Bernhard Hartmann, Fototapeta 2022.
• Chopins Herz: Ein Liederkreis, [Serce Chopina], transl. Michael Pietrucha, parasitenpresse 2024.

Russian:

• Ljalja [Lala], transl. Jurij Czajnikow, Moskwa: Bertelsman Media, 2015.
• Saturn [Saturn], transl. Olga Łobodzińska, Moskwa: Tekst, 2015.
• Кривоклят [Krivoklat], transl. Jurij Czajnikow, St. Petersburg: Jaromir Hladik press, 2020.

Serbian:

• Saturn [Saturn], transl. Snežana Đukanović, Novi Sad: Akademska knjiga, 2019.

Sovak:

• Babuľa [Lala], transl. Karol Chmel, Bratislava: Kalligram, 2009.
• Saturn [Saturn], transl. Karol Chmel, Bratysława: Kalligram, 2013.

Slovenian:

• Pupa [Lala], transl. Jana Unuk, Lubljana: EHO, 2012.

Turkish:

• Lala, transl. Seda Köycü, Istambuł: Apollon, 2011.

Ukrainian:

• Saturn [Saturn], transl. Andrij Bondar, Kijów: Komora, 2015.
• Ljalja [Lala], transl. Bożena Antoniak, Lwów: Urbino, 2016.
• Matinka Makryna [Matka Makryna], transl. Andrij Bondar, Kijów: Komora, 2017.
• Кривоклят [Krivoklat], transl. Andrij Bondar, Kijów: Komora, 2018.

Hungarian:

• Lala, transl. Gáspár Keresztes, Kalligram, 2010.
• Saturn [Saturn], transl. Sándor Márk Pályi, Pozsony: Kalligram, 2014.

Italian:

• Lala: sotto il segno dell'acero [Lala], transl. Raffaella Belletti, Milano: Salani, 2009.
• Il quadro nero [Saturn], transl. Raffaella Belletti, Milano: Salani Editore, 2013.
• La signora Mohr scompare [Tajemnica domu Helclów], transl. Barbara Delfino, Włochy, Rizzoli, 2024.