Jakub Małecki (b. 1982) Novelist and translator, qualified as an economist. Like several other writers of the same generation (e.g. Łukasz Orbitowski and Szczepan Twardoch), Małecki started out writing fantasy fiction, but his work gradually evolved towards contemporary fiction about real life, but with an added pinch of the uncanny and a hint of menace. His signature style was elaborated in the best-selling novel Dygot (“Trembling”), which was well received by the critics. 

Małecki finds inspiration in painting and photography, and also makes use of true stories that catch his eye, but always with an admixture of parody, surrealism and symbolism. He also uses reconfigured autobiographical themes; for instance, his books are set in the former Kuyavian-Pomeranian region where his family is from, or in the cities of Poznań or Warsaw, where he has lived. As a former financial analyst and advisor he makes some of his leading characters work in the loans division of a bank (as in Przemytnik cudu [“The Miracle Smuggler”], or Dygot). His books contain a lot of small-scale sociological observations, especially involving the residents of high-rise housing blocks (as in Dżozef [“Joseph”] and Błędy [“Errors”]), and transformation in the Polish provinces (especially in Dygot, which resembles a saga, going back to the pre-war period, and covering the lives of three generations of the Łabendowicz and Geld families set against tempestuous historical and social changes).

Małecki populates his fiction with strong women who have been tried by fate, men who are battling with addiction, and oversensitive children – he often chooses to describe the experience of otherness. His central characters include misfits, lame ducks and obsessives, such as Chwaścior in Ślady (“Traces”), Wiktor the albino in Dygot, or Stasio Baryłczak in Dżozef. Rejected by their environment or having voluntarily abandoned their community, they immerse themselves in an alternative world, often suspended between genius and insanity. Good and evil also seem to be fighting an endless battle within them – in every book Małecki creates a gallery of ethically ambiguous characters.

Małecki interweaves human stories, usually dramatic, shot through with danger, and full of suffering and fear. He likes giving them a lengthy perspective, from birth to a triumphant death that is ends it all. He introduces surreal elements, such as a curse or a prophecy (hence the tag “magic realism” that has been applied to his work by some critics, which he rejects), but allows for a common-sense, far more tragic interpretation of human existence as being at the mercy of misfortune. He’s fascinated by the question of fate, accident, and chains of not entirely concious choices that people make in life, which he expresses most strongly in Ślady, a book that weaves several portraits of individual characters together to form a more elevated fictional whole, hard to define in terms of genre. Blurring the borders between fiction and reality is a constant feature of his fiction, particularly apparent in his depiction of passionate readers who become engrossed in books.

In 2023 a screen version of Święto ognia (“Festival of Fire”) appeared, directed by Kinga Dębska and produced by Opus Film (the production company responsible for Ida and Cold War).

In 2011 Małecki won the Śląkfa scifi and fantasy award in the Writer of the Year category, and Dżozef was nominated for the Janusz A. Zajdel Prize. In the same year Małecki won the Jerzy Żuławski Literary Prize (Golden Disctinction) for Dygot, which was also nominated for the Central European Angelus Prize and the Poznań Literary Prize. Ślady was also nominated for the 2011 Nike Literary Prize. In 2020 the Dutch translation of Rdza (“Rust”) came first in a ranking of best books recommended by booksellers, issued by the Dutch website Blendle. In the same year the Russian translation of Dygot was nominated for the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award given by the Leo Tolstoy Museum, Święto ognia won the Cyprian Norwid Prize, and Saturnin (“Saturnine”) was among fifty books listed as the best of the year by the editors of the Belgian journal DeMorgen. In 2023 it was nominated for the Dutch award, the Europese Literatuurprijs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fiction:

• Błędy (“Errors”), Red Horse, 2008
• Przemytnik cudu (“The Miracle Smuggler”), Red Horse, 2008
• Zaksięgowani (“Entered in the Books”), Powergraph, 2009
• Dżozef (“Joseph”),  W.A.B., 2011
• W odbiciu (“In Reflection”), Powergraph, 2011
• Odwrotniak (“The Reverse”), WAB, 2013
• Dygot (“Trembling”), Sine Qua Non, 2015
• Ślady (“Traces”), Sine Qua Non, 2016
• Rdza (“Rust”), Sine Qua Non, 2017
• Nikt nie idzie (“Nobody’s Going”), Sine Qua Non, 2018
• Historie podniebne (“Soaring Stories”), Sine Qua Non, 2019
• Horyzont (“Horizon”),  Sine Qua Non, 2019
• Saturnin (“Saturnine”),  Sine Qua Non, 2020
• Święto ognia (“Festival of Fire”), Sine Qua Non, 2021
• Sąsiednie kolory (“Neighbouring Colours”), Sine Qua Non, 2023
• Korowód (“The Procession”), Sine Qua Non, 2023

Selected translations into Polish:

• Kevin Wilson, The Family Fang (Rodzina na pokaz), Pruszyński i S-ka, 2012
• Sarah Rayner, One Moment, One Morning (Jedna chwila), Pruszyński i S-ka, 2013
• Aleida March, Remembering Che: My Life With Che Guevara
• (Mój Che. Bardzo intymnie),  Wydawnictwo Sine Qua Non, 2014
• N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season (Piąta pora roku), Wydawnictwo Sine Qua Non, 2016
• John Scalzi, Old Man’s War (Wojna starego człowieka), Wydawnictwo Akurat - Muza, 2016
• N.K. Jemisin, The Obelisk Gate (Wrota obelisków), SQN Imaginatio - Wydawnictwo Sine Qua Non, 2017
• George Harrar, The Spinning Man (Sieć podejrzeń), Wielka Litera, 2017
• Tarryn Fisher, Mud Vein (Ciemna strona), Wydawnictwo Sine Qua Non, 2017

TRANSLATIONS

Azeri:

• Od festivali (Święta ognia), trans. Guler Abdullabeyova, Strauss, 2025

Dutch:

• Roest (Rdza), trans. Karol Lesman, Amsterdam: Em. Querido's Uitgeverij BV, 2020
• Saturnin (Saturnin), trans. Karol Lesman, Amsterdam: Em. Querido's Uitgeverij BV, 2022
• Aangrenzende kleuren (Sąsiednie kolory), trans. Karol Lesman, Amsterdam: Em. Querido's Uitgeverij BV, 2024

German:

• Rost (Rdza), trans. Renate Schmidgall, Zürich: Secession Verlag für Literatur, 2021
• Saturnin (Saturnin), trans. Renate Schmidgall, Berlin: Secession Verlag Berlin, 2022
• Beben in uns Roman (Dygot), trans. Joanna Manc, Berlin: Secession Verlag Berlin, 2023
• Das Fest des Feuers (Święto ognia), trans. Renate Schmidgall, Berlin: Secession Verlag Berlin, 2025

Russian:

• Drozhʹ (Dygot), trans. D. G. Viren, Moscow: Izdatelstvo AST, 2022

Slovenian:

• Rja (Rdza), trans. Klemen Pisk, Ljubljana: Sodobnost International, 2020
• In 2025 the Macedonian edition of Rdza will be published by the Martin publishing house. A Croatian translation of Święto ognia and a German translation of Korowód are both underway. 

Anna Spólna, updated PK [6.03.2025]