Szczepan Twardoch (b. 1979 ) is a novelist and journalist.

In his earliest books (Obłęd rotmistrza von Egern [“The Madness of Captain von Egern”] and Sternberg) he tended towards historical/philosophical fantasy fiction, featuring the philosophy of history and the spirit of revolution. A change of tone came with the novel Epifania wikarego Trzaski (“The Epiphany of the Reverend Trzaska”). In it Twardoch shifts towards modern times, joining for example the heated debate on the topic of the “lustration” (meaning the exposure of communist agents within an organization) of the Catholic church.  This issue is even more radically discussed in his political thriller, Przemienienie (“Transfiguration”), in which the main character is a security service lieutenant. Here the world of the secret communist militia is portrayed with brutal ruthlessness. Twardoch’s next book, Prawem wilka (“By the Law of the Wolf”) also takes a radically anti-communist stance, especially the story that opens the collection, “Bodhisattwa”  (“Bodhisattva”). Twardoch’s next book was the crime thriller Zimne wybrzeża (“Cold Coasts”), the plot of which revolves mainly around issues to do with the Polish-German identity of the central character, Johann Schmidt, also known as John Smith.

The theme of identity dilemmas also appears in Wieczny Grunwald (“Eternal Grunwald”, 2010), in which Twardoch examines Polish-German antagonism through the lens of national stereotypes. A year later he published a collection of six short stories, Tak jest dobrze (“It’s Fine Like That”), which in various ways feature failed lives, a lack of acceptance, fear of being laughed at and humiliated, and the fakeness of human postures. In 2012 his novel Morfina (“Morphine”) appeared, a study of male weakness, in which he excellently combines three plots, psychological, historical and thriller. The action (including some flashbacks) covers three weeks in 1939. Drach, published in 2014, is the epic portrait of several generations of a Silesian family. Król (published in English translation as The King of Warsaw) and its sequel Królestwo (“The Kingdom”) tell the story of a Jewish boxer, Jakub Szapiro. In Pokora (“Humility”) and Chołod (“Kholod”) he continues to explore historical themes and issues of identity. Twardoch’s most recent novel, Null, is about the war in Ukraine. In Aleksandra Pakieła’s view, he “does not offer simple answers – he doesn’t judge, or glorify, or demonize. This novel, though set in the reality of Ukraine, asks universal questions about identity, heritage, duty and the desire to live.”

Several of Twardoch’s works have been adapted for the stage or screen.

The story collection Tak jest dobrze was nominated for the 2012 Gdynia Literary Prize. In 2013 Twardoch won the Paszport Polityka award in the literature category for the novel Morfina, which was also shortlisted for the Nike Literary Prize and for the European Book Prize. In 2015 Drach was shortlisted for the Nike Literary Prize, and won the German Brücke Berlin award. In 2015 Twardoch won the Kościelski Foundation Prize. In 2017 he won the top prize in the „O!Lśnienia 2016” public vote in the literature category. In the same year he was nominated for the Gdynia Literary Prize in the fiction category for Król. In 2019 he won the Samuel Bogumił Linde prize and the title Ambassador of the Written Polish Language. In 2022 he won the Kazimierz Kutz prize, and in 2025 the Usedomer Literary Prize.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fiction:

• Obłęd rotmistrza von Egern (“The Madness of Captain von Egern”), Fabryka Słów, 2005
• Sternberg, Super NOWA, 2007
• Epifania wikarego Trzaski (“The Epiphany of the Reverend Trzaska”), Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, 2007
• Przemienienie (“Transfiguration”), Wydawnictwo Dębogóra, 2008
• Prawem wilka (“By the Law of the Wolf”), Super NOWA, 2008
• Zimne wybrzeża (“Cold Coasts”), Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, 2009
• Wieczny Grunwald. Powieść zza końca czasów (“Eternal Grunwald: A Novel from Beyond the End of Time”), Narodowe Centrum Kultury, 2010
• Tak jest dobrze (“It’s Fine Like That”), Powergraph, 2011
• Morfina (“Morphine”), Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2012
• Drach, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2014
• Król (The King of Warsaw), Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2016
• Ballada o pewnej panience: wszystkie najważniejsze opowiadania (“The Ballad of a Young Lady: All the Most Essential Stories”), Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2017
• Królestwo (“The Kingdom”), Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2018
• Pokora (“Humility”), Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2020
• Chołod (“Kholod”), Wydawnictwo Literackie 2022
• Powiedzmy, że Piontek (“Let’s Say Friday”), Wydawnictwo Literackie 2024
• Null, Wydawnictwo Marginesy 2025

Other books:

• Wyznania prowincjusza (“Confessions of a Provincial”), Fronda 2010
• Sztuka życia dla mężczyzn (“The Art of Life for Men”), Świat Książki 2013, co-author: Przemysław Bociąga
• Wieloryby i ćmy. Dzienniki 2007-2015 (“Whales and Moths: Diaries 2007-2015”), Wydawnictwo Literackie 2015
• Lepiej byś tam umarł (“Better to Have Died There”), Wydawnictwo W.A.B. 2017, co-author: Mamed Khalidov
• Jak nie zostałem poetą (“How I Failed to become a Poet”), Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2019
• Wielkie Księstwo Groteski (“The Grand Duchy of the Grotesque”), Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2021
• Byk  (“The Bull”), Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2022

TRANSLATIONS

Croat:

• Morfij (Morfina), trans. Emilio Nuić, Zagreb: Hena com, 2018

Czech:

• Morfium (Morfina), trans. Michael Alexa, Brno: Host, 2017
• Král (Król), trans. M. Benešová. Brno: Host 2020

Dutch:

• De koning (Król), trans. Charlotte Pothuizen, Amsterdam: Nieuw Amsterdam, 2019
• Het zwarte koninkrijk (Królestwo), trans. Charlotte Pothuizen, Amsterdam: Nieuw Amsterdam, 2021

English:

• King of Warsaw (Król), trans. Sean G. Bye, AmazonCrossing, 2020

French:

• Transfiguration (Przemienienie), trans. Ewa Rawicz-Władyka, Paris:Bellicum: Terra Mare Éd., 2010
• Morphine (Morfina), trans. Kamil Barbarski, Lausanne: Les Éditions Noir sur Blanc, 2016
• Drach, trans. Lydia Waleryszak, Lausanne: Les Éditions Noir sur Blanc, 2018

German:

• Morphin (Morfina), trans. Olaf Kühl, Reinbek: Rowohlt Verlage, 2015
• Drach, trans. Olaf Kühl, Berlin: Rowohlt, 2016
• Der Boxer (Król), trans. Olaf Kühl, Berlin: Rowohlt Berlin Verlag 2018
• Wale und Nachtfalter: Tagebuch vom Leben und Reisen (Wieloryby i ćmy. Dzienniki 2007-2015), trans. Olaf Kühl, Berlin: Rowohlt Berlin Verlag 2019
• Das schwarze Königreich (Królestwo), trans. Olaf Kühl, Berlin: Rowohlt Berlin Verlag 2020
• Demut (Pokora), trans. Olaf Kühl, Berlin: Rowohlt Berlin Verlag, 2022
• Kälte (Chołod), trans. Olaf Kühl, Berlin: Rowohlt Berlin Verlag, 2024
• Die Nulllinie (Null), trans. Olaf Kühl, Berlin: Rowohlt Berlin Verlag, 2025

Hebrew:

• Melekh (Król), trans. Miriam Borenshtein, Jerusalem, 2023

Hungarian:

• Morfium (Morfina), trans. Gábor Körner, Budapest: Typotex, 2015
• A király (Król), trans. Gábor Körner, Budapest: Typotex, 2018

Italian:

• Il re di Varsavia (Król), trans. Francesco Annicchiarico, Palermo: Sellerio editore, 2020

Macedonian:

• Morfium (Morfina), trans. Ilija Trajkovski, Skopje, Begemot, 2016

Romanian:

• Morfina (Morfina), trans. Cristina Godun, Cluj-Napoca: Casa Cărtii de Stiintă, 2015

Serbian:

• Morfiyum (Morfina), trans. Jelena Ćirlić-Jović, Belgrade: Dereta, 2016

Silesian:

• Drach: Edycyjŏ ślōnskŏ, trans. Grzegorz Kulik, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2018

Slovak:

• Kráľ (Król), trans. A. Horák. Bratislava: Absynt, 2021

Slovenian:

• Morfij (Morfina), trans. Staša Pavlović, Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 2016

Spanish:

• El rey de Varsovia (Król), trans. B. Wyrzykowska, E. Rabasco. Barcelona: Acantilado, 2023

Ukrainian:

• Morfiy (Morfina), trans. Ostap Ukrainets, Kharkiv: Ranok Publishing House, 2018
• Korol' (Król), trans. Ostap Ukrainets,  Kharkiv, 2020

The rights to Morfina have also been sold in Spain, and to Pokora in the Netherlands, Spain and Ukraine. The rights to Król have been sold in China, Greece and Turkey. The rights to Królestwo have been sold in the Netherlands. The rights to Chołod have been sold in Spain, Lithuania and Ukraine.