Polish literature

Jarosław Grzędowicz

born in 1965, in Wrocław. Prose writer, editor, translator. Co-founder of the literary magazine ‘Fenix’, and its editor in chief during the years 1993-2000. Columnist in ‘Gazeta Polska’, translator of comic books (incl. Star Wars), member of Klub Tfurców (‘Creators’ Club’, a Polish Literary Group bringing together authors writing mainly different varieties of fantasy) from the beginning of its existence, and a member of the Polish Writers' Association.

His debut short story Azyl dla starych pilotów (Asylum for Old Pilots) came out in 1982 in the pages of a Łódź weekly ‘Odgłosy’. Many a time honoured with literary awards: Elektrybałt Award in 1999, for a short story Klub absolutnej karty kredytowej (An Absolute Credit Card Club), Sfinks Award (a literary award in the field of fantasy) in 2005 for a short story Buran wieje z tamtej strony (Buran Blows from the Other Side), in 2006 for the first volume of Pan Lodowego Ogrodu (The Lord of the Ice Garden), and in 2010 for the third volume of the aforementioned novel, and finally Śląkfy Award (the oldest Polish science fiction and fantasy award), in the category ‘The Creator of the Year 2005’.  He was awarded the Janusz A. Zajdel Award twice (the prestigious annual award given by the Polish science fiction and fantasy fandom), in 2006 in two categories simultaneously: for the first volume of the novel Pan Lodowego Ogrodu and for the short story Wilcza Zamieć (Wolven Blizzard) from the anthology Deszcze Niespokojne (Restless Rains), as well as in 2007 for the novel Popiół i Kurz. Opowieść ze świata Pomiędzy (Ash and Dust. A Tale from the World In Between).

Jarosław Grzędowicz’s prose is characterised by an effortless compilation of various genres: fantasy, horror, crime, adventure, or science-fiction; moreover, the author often employs irony and black humour. What is typical of his works is to create a reflection of a real world in unreal, imaginary spaces, to form sociocultural collages, to draw upon myths and symbols known from the history of culture and to construct a new order on their foundations. The plot of Grzędowicz’s novels and short stories chiefly consists of contrasting different worlds (terrestrial with fictional, intangible, e.g. in the novel Ash and Dust, where the protagonist has an ability to enter the world of lost souls), attitudes and destinies of the characters, as well as space and time (e.g. in a short story Buran wieje z tamtej strony, where the reality of modern Russia is confronted with the situation of a character from the Soviet Union – a Zek, who suddenly found himself in a different dimension).

The most expressive and famous work in Grzędowicz’s literary output is the novel The Lord of the Ice Garden, consisting of four volumes. Both the action and the narrative of the series are conducted on two levels: the story of the commando Vuko Drakkainen, and earthling sent to a remote planet Midgaard, is run parallel to the fate of a character inhabiting the planet, Filar, the Lord of the Tiger Throne and a future emperor of Amitrajs and Kirenens. The humanoid inhabitants of the planet, its wildlife, as well as the local society are a copy of Earth’s nature, religions, and sociological structures. An earthling, the world of whom is ruled by reason (science), is placed against magical forces. The combination of subjective and objective narrative (conducted from the first and third person perspectives) defines the world depicted, simultaneously allowing the reader to participate in it with the protagonist.

This dichotomy of civilisation (though depicted in somehow different stylistics and proportions, more like a contrast between the modern societies and their future) is also highlighted in the novel Hel-3 (Hellium-3). The protagonist, Norbert, working as an ‘eventer’ (a profession combining the roles of an investigative journalist, a YouTuber, and a reporter) is used as an excuse for portraying the problem of an individual trapped in a global society. In this anti-utopian reality, there can be found disastrous images of the decline of humanity, which are also reflected in the language Grzędowicz employs in Hel-3: newspeak imbued with technicalised borrowings from the English language, colloquial words, and references to pop-culture patterns.

The works by Grzędowicz constitute a multi-tiered world of real and imaginary societies, between which the connection is an ordinary person, maybe not fully aware of the mission resting on their shoulders, often subject to fate. In this prose, the modern world is not the only accessible reality for man. There exists something behind it, one only needs to open their eyes.

– Katarzyna Wójcik

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Novels:

  • Księga jesiennych demonów, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2003 (subsequent editions in 2007, 2010, 2014).
  • Pan Lodowego Ogrodu tom 1, Lublin-Warszawa, Fabryka Słów, 2005 (subsequent editions in 2009, 2012).
  • Popiół i kurz. Opowieść ze świata Pomiędzy, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2006 (subsequent editions in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015).
  • Pan Lodowego Ogrodu tom 2, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2007 (subsequent edition in 2012).
  • Wypychacz zwierząt, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2008 (subsequent edition in 2013).
  • Pan Lodowego Ogrodu tom 3, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2009 (subsequent edition in 2012).
  • Pan Lodowego Ogrodu tom 4, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2012.
  • Hel-3, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2017.

Short stories:

  • Azyl dla starych pilotów, „Odgłosy”, 1982.
  • Twierdza Trzech Studni, anthology Rok 1984, Warszawa: Alma-Press, 1988.
  • Dom na krawędzi Światła, anthology Czarna Msza, Poznań: Rebis, 1992.
  • Śmierć Szczurołapa, anthology Białystok: Wizje alternatywne, Arax, 1990.
  • Enter – i jesteś martwy, „Fenix” nr 1[48], 1996.
  • Klub Absolutnej Karty Kredytowej, anthology Wizje alternatywne #4, Olsztyn: Solaris, 2002 and the collection of short stories Księga jesiennych demonów, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2003.
  • Księga jesiennych demonów, the collection of short stories, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2003.
  • Obol dla Lilith, anthology Demony, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2004.
  • Pocałunek Loisetty, anthology Małodobry, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2004 and the collection of short stories Wypychacz zwierząt, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2008.
  • Buran wieje z tamtej strony, anthology Wizje alternatywne #5, Olsztyn: Solaris, 2004 and the collection of short stories Wypychacz zwierząt, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2008.
  • Wilcza zamieć, anthology Deszcze niespokojne, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2005 and the collection of short stories Wypychacz zwierząt, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2008.
  • Farewell Blues, anthology Niech żyje Polska. Hura! t.1, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2006 and the collection of short stories Wypychacz zwierząt, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2008.
  • Zegarmistrz i łowca motyli, anthology Tempus fugit tom 1, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2006 and the collection of short stories Wypychacz zwierząt, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2008.
  • Wypychacz zwierząt, the collection of short stories, Lublin-Warszawa: Fabryka Słów, 2008.
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