Marek Bieńczyk

Marek Bieńczyk
Bieńczyk in 2012
Bieńczyk in 2012
Born (1956-07-06) 6 July 1956 (age 68)
Milanówek, Poland
Occupationwriter, historian of literature, translator, essayist
NationalityPolish
Alma materUniversity of Warsaw
Genrefiction
Notable worksBook of Faces (2012)
Notable awardsPaszport Polityki (1999)
Nike Award (2012)

Marek Bieńczyk (Polish pronunciation: [ˈmarɛk ˈbjɛɲt͡ʂɨk]; born 6 July 1956) is a Polish writer, historian of literature, translator, essayist and oenologist. In 2012, he won the Nike Award, Poland's top literary prize, for his collection of essays Book of Faces.

Life and career

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Born in 1956 in Milanówek, Poland, he studied Romance Languages and Literature at the University of Warsaw and has worked as a historian at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN).[1] He is also a visiting professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He has collaborated with the Tygodnik Powszechny, and the French quarterly L'Atelier du roman. He specializes in Polish literary Romanticism and contemporary French literature. His academic debut was published in 1990 and was titled Czarny człowiek. Zygmunt Krasiński wobec śmierci (The Black Man – Zygmunt Krasiński on Death).[2]

In 1999, his book Tworki won Paszport Polityki and a year later was awarded the Władysław Reymont Literary Prize. In 2012, he received the Nike Award for his collection of essays Książka twarzy (Book of Faces),[3] the title of which ironically alludes to the social networking service Facebook.[4] In 2013, he was awarded the Illustrated Book of the Year Award (Polish national section of IBBY) for his book Książe w cukierni (Prince in a Cake Shop[5].). In 2019, he was nominated for another Nike Award for his book Kontener.[6]

He is also known as a translator of French-language literature, most notably the works of Milan Kundera (Immortality, Slowness, Identity, The Festival of Insignificance), Emil Cioran and Roland Barthes.[7]

His books have been translated into several languages including Bulgarian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Spanish and Ukrainian.[8]

He is a member of the Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers (FIJEV) and collaborates with the Kraków-based Collegium Vini. He has published articles on wine in such newspapers and magazines as Gazeta Wyborcza, Przekrój, Forbes, Magazyn Wino and Kuchnia. Together with Wojciech Bońkowski, he co-wrote Poland's first oenological guide called Wina Europy (Wines of Europe).[9]


Selected works

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  • Terminal, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warsaw, 1994 (ISBN 83-06-02387-0)
  • Tworki, Wydawnictwo Sic!, Warsaw, 1999 (ISBN 83-86056-56-8)

Collections of essays

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Marek Bieńczyk". Culture.pl. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Marek Bieńczyk". Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Marek Bieńczyk laureatem Nike 2012" (in Polish). Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Marek Bieńczyk nominated for the NIKE Award!". Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  5. ^ Marek Bieńczyk, Prince in a Pastry Shop illustrated by Joanna Concejo and translated from the Polish by Benjamin Paloff, Seven Stories Press, 2023 New in translation
  6. ^ "Marek Bieńczyk". Culture.pl. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  7. ^ "THIS WEEK: Marek Bienczyk at UIC, Thurs. Oct 11th at 4pm, Daley Library". Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Marek Bieńczyk". Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Marek Bieńczyk" (in Polish). Retrieved 21 October 2022.