Szczepan Lech Twardoch ([ʂt͡ʂɛpan tvardɔx]; born 23 December 1979 in Knurów) is a Polish-Silesian writer.[1][2] He has written a series of best-selling novels such as Morphine (2012), Drach (2014),The King (2016), The Kingdom (2018) and Pokora (2020).

Szczepan Twardoch
Twardoch in 2012
Twardoch in 2012
Native name
Szczepōn Twardoch
Born (1979-12-23) 23 December 1979 (age 44)
Knurów, Poland
Occupation
  • Novelist
LanguagePolish, Silesian
Alma materUniversity of Silesia in Katowice
Period2005–present
Notable awardsNike Audience Award (2013)

The King has been turned into a TV series, first broadcast on the Canal+ network.[3] He has won numerous literary prizes among them the Brücke Berlin-Preis and Le Prix du Livre Européen.

Career edit

Twardoch completed his education in sociology at the Interdepartmental Individual Studies in the Humanities of University of Silesia in Katowice.

As an independent journalist, Twardoch's work has appeared in various publications including Gazeta Wyborcza, and Rzeczpospolita. He served as the editor of the literary section for the bimonthly magazine Christianitas and has been a regular columnist for Polityka and Wysokie Obcasy Extra.

Twardoch's literary career is marked by several accolades. His short story The Madness of Rotmistrz von Egern was a contender for the Nautilus Prize in 2003, securing fourth place. He won the Nautilus for the best short story of 2006 with Rondo, and in 2008, his Epiphany of Vicar Trzaska earned the Silver Award of the Jerzy Żuławski Literary Award. His novel Wieczny Grunwald received the Distinction of the Józef Mackiewicz Award in 2011. The following year, he was nominated for the Gdynia Literary Prize for his collection Tak jest dobrze. His novel Morphine won him the Polityka's Passport for 2012 but was also a finalist for the 2013 Nike Literary Award and received further nominations that year.

In 2014, Twardoch published Drach, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Nike Literary Award and won the 2016 German Brücke Berlin Literary Prize. The Koscielski Foundation Prize was awarded to him in 2015. He received the top prize in the "O!lśnienie 2016" poll in the Literature category, organized by Onet.pl in April 2017. His novel King was nominated for the 2017 Gdynia Literary Prize. In 2019, he was the recipient of the Samuel Bogumil Linde Prize.

Noteworthy is the adaptation of Twardoch's work into plays and television, including the 2018 stage premiere of King, directed by Monika Strzępka, and the series The King of Warsaw produced for Canal+ in 2019, in which Twardoch made a cameo appearance. Other adaptations include Drach, Pokora, and Bull, directed by Robert Talarczyk.

In February 2022, he was honored with the Kazimierz Kutz Award, and in November 2023, Twardoch received the Planet Lem Award for his innovative thinking about reality, celebrated alongside surpassing one million copies of his books sold.

Szczepan Twardoch's books, which include paper books, ebooks, and audio files, have collectively surpassed one million sales, with Król being his most popular novel. His work Drach has been translated into Silesian.

He lives in Pilchowice in Upper Silesia.[4]

Publications edit

Novels edit

Short story collections edit

See also edit

External links edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Szczepan Twardoch: to nie jest "sukces Polaka", ponieważ nie jestem Polakiem". Onet Kultura (in Polish). 2021-05-05. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  2. ^ "Szczepan Twardoch: Śląska tożsamość wyrasta ze mnie samego". wachtyrz.eu. 2021-04-07. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  3. ^ Ellwood-Hughes, Pip. "Walter Presents: 'The King of Warsaw' on Channel 4 in May". Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  4. ^ Bio