TOP 10 Polish women writers you have to know!

Although most of us are probably still recovering from the June and July temperatures, outside we can already slowly feel the spirit of autumn approaching. For this spirit, there is one piece of advice – always reliable: literature. This is also a really good time to reach for the works of Polish women writers. And while the following list may seem rather obvious in a few cases, it may also surprise, interest, and make you reach for new, previously unknown items.

Polish women writers – TOP 10:

• Ałbena Grabowska

  A writer with a medical background – she is a specialist in neurology and epileptology, a graduate of the Medical Academy in Warsaw. She received her doctorate in medical science in 2004. Seven years later, she made her debut in the literary world with the novel Where Orpheus Was Born, which tells the story of the Bulgarian Rhodopes (the writer has Polish-Bulgarian roots). Still actively working in her profession, Grabowska has written and published more than twenty items, the most popular title of which is undoubtedly the trilogy The Century of the Guilty (2014-2015), based on which a drama series of the same title was made.

• • Katarzyna Bonda

    As she says, there are only two subjects worth writing about: that is love and death. A detective story usually contains both. Called by many the queen of Polish crime fiction, the author is also a journalist and a screenwriter. She made her debut as a writer in 2007 with a novel titled The Case of Nina Frank, which became the first in a series of books about Hubert Meyer, and at the same time the first on the Polish market whose main character is an investigative profiler. This book – like the whole series – won the approval of readers and critics (nomination for the Great Caliber Award). Bonda is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable Polish authors – she sealed her position on the Polish literary market with Sasha Załuska’s Four Elements series. In 2020, a TV series Sasha’s Elements was created based on the prose of Katarzyna Bonda. Fire, the first episode of which gathered as many as 977,000 viewers in front of TV sets.

• • Joanna Chmielewska

    Irena Barbara Kuhn, as “Joanna Chmielewska” was her literary pseudonym. Born in 1932, the author is considered one of the most popular contemporary Polish writers. Her prose is described as criminal comedy or ironic detective fiction. Chmielewska’s novels quickly gained bestseller status in Poland, also in Russia, she became one of the most respected foreign authors. She authored not only novels for adults, but also books for children and young people. She also created several radio plays. Among the most important books by Joanna Chmielewska are Everything Red (1974), The Whole Sentence of a Celestial (1972), and Leo (1973). In 2004 she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta; she died in 2013 in Warsaw, leaving behind more than sixty unforgettable items.

    

• • Elżbieta Cherezińska

    She is a graduate of the Department of Theater Knowledge at the Warsaw Theater Academy. As a writer, she specializes in historical novels – her subjects include the Piast era (Game of Dice, 2010), the epoch of the district split (the bestselling Korona śniegu I krwi, 2012) or World War II (Legion, 2013). Some of Cherezinska’s most important books include I Was Rumkowski’s Secretary. The Diary of Etka Daum – a novel, maintained in the form of a diary, about the realities of life in the Lodz ghetto. The author is also active online, where she maintains a blog dedicated to her books: www.cherezinska.pl.

    

• • Katarzyna Puzyńska

    She gained popularity on the Polish publishing market with a series of detective stories about the village of Lipowo – but as she writes on her website (www.katarzynapuzynska.pl) – Lipowo, the place where the saga is set, is a fictional village (…). When creating the book Lipowo, I was inspired by an existing village – my beloved Pokrzydowo (although I assure you that no one murders anyone there!). A total of thirteen books have been published in the series; the last of them, Martyrdom, was released in July 2021. 2018 also saw the publication of Puzyńska’s first book in the Policemen series, from the sale of which the Foundation for Aid to Widows and Orphans of Fallen Policemen is supported. The author is also active on YouTube, where she hosts a video series MiniWriting School, sharing her writing experiences with viewers.

    

  • Olga Tokarczuk

    Polish Nobel Prize winner, writer, poet, screenwriter, feminist, activist, graduate of psychology at Warsaw University. Olga Tokarczuk is undoubtedly one of the most important – if not the most important – figure on the Polish literary market. This is what she said about her work in her Nobel speech in Stockholm on December 7, 2019: I write fiction, but it is never something pulled out of my finger. When I write, I have to feel everything inside myself. I have to let through myself all the beings and objects present in the book, everything human and non-human, living and non-living. Tokarczuk’s most important novels include The Jakubowe Books (2014), Prawiek i inne czasy (1996), Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead (2009) and The Runners (2007).

    

• • Małgorzata Sobczak

    She gained recognition on the Polish literary market with her Colors of Evil series, the first part of which, Red, was published in 2019. Małgorzata Oliwia Sobczak is a cultural studies scholar and journalist by training; she made her debut as a writer in 2015 with the tale Mali, Boli and the Queen of Frost (as the book description says, it is an item “for all who love or have loved”). In 2017, her novel She and the House That Dances was published, in which she takes readers to the regions of her native Zulawy. This year saw the release of the third and final book in the Colors of Evil series – Biel, in which the author described the further fate of the prosecutor Leopold Bilski, known from the previous parts of the trilogy.

    

• • Dominika Słowik

    Although she has only two literary releases to her credit – Atlas: Doppelganger (2015) and Zimowla (2019), Dominika Slowik is already the winner of such a significant award as the “Polityka” Passport. Considered one of the most interesting authors of her generation, Slowik impressed with her debut (Atlas: Doppelganger), which is – as you can read in the book description – a cross between Macondo and Street of Crocodiles. Nightingale, meanwhile, was honored with the Empik Discovery Award for 2019 for her novel Zimowla.

    

• • Katarzyna Grochola

    Although her books Never in Life (2001) and I’ll Show You (2004) – both of which, incidentally, were transferred to the screen – undoubtedly brought her greatest popularity, Katarzyna Grochola is a versatile author. She has written more than twenty novels and collections of short stories, and has also written drama texts (her radio play Kot mi schudł / The Cat Has Lost Weight, which was appreciated at the “Two Theaters” Festival) and collaborated on scripts for such series as M jak Miłość and Na dobre i na złe. I am the most popular writer in this country, regardless of whether anyone likes or dislikes me,” Grochola said of herself. One thing is certain – her books are bestsellers, and the total number of copies sold has exceeded five million.

    

• Anna Kańtoch

Known under the pseudonym “Anneke”, the writer is a graduate of Oriental Studies at Jagiellonian University. She made her debut in 2004 with the short story The Devil on the Tower, starting a series of works about Domenic Jordan. Anna Kańtoch’s works are mainly detective stories and fantasy; the writer is the winner of the European Science Fiction Association’s award for the most promising young author (2007). Items worth reading include Dante’s Worlds (2008) and Faith (2017).

• • BONUS: Katarzyna Nosowska

    A name known by Polish women and men for many years, but until 2018 associated more with music than literature – because then the first book by Katarzyna Nosowska, titled A ja żem jej powiedziała…, saw the light of day – a collection of columns, touching on all sorts of topics – from the impact of social media on human life to personal problems faced by each and every one of us.

    

    The singer of Hey – who since 1992 has managed to capture the Polish music scene and become one of the most important figures on the Polish rock scene – in her first book disarms with sincerity, brilliance, authenticity. And also the warmth and tenderness with which she conveys her thoughts to the reader. In 2020, Katarzyna Nosowska’s second book, Return from the bamboozle, was published. Less fun here, more – a reckoning with her own past, her own weaknesses, habits, habits and beliefs, brought from the family home. I consider both books to be must-have items in every home. Both – as masterpieces on the modern literary market.

Article: Aleksandra Myslek
Translate: Piotr Remiszewski

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