Anatol Ulman

(1931-2013) – a prose writer, poet, playwright, journalist and literary critic.

In 1955 he graduated in Polish philology from the Poznań University, and debuted in 1957, when the magazine “Od Nowa” published his piece “Wszystkie młodości” (All the Youths). From the late 1970s onwards he collaborated with the satirical magazine “Szpilki”, the regional daily “Głos Pomorza” and the weekly “Zbliżenia”. His achievements in the press earned him the journalism award from the President of the Robotnicza Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza (Workers’ Publishing Cooperative) “Prasa-Książka-Ruch” in 1981.

His first novel, Cigi de Montbazon, was published in 1979. It was received with huge enthusiasm by readers and was reissued twice. Ulman went on to publish many novels, including “Potworne poglądy cynicznych krasnoludków” (The Monstrous Views of Cynical Gnomes, 1985), “Ojciec nasz Faust Mefistofelewicz” (Our Father Faustus Mephistophelevych, 1991), “Banda Kuby Baszka. Akonityna” (Kuba Baszek’s Gang. Aconitine, 1992), “Pan Tatol, czyli nieostatni zajazd na dziczy. Historia burżuazyjna z końca” (Pan Tatol, or the Not-Last Foray in the Wilderness. A Bourgeois Story from the End, 2000) and “Dzyndzylyndzy, czyli postmortuizm” (Jinglejangle, or Postmortuism, 2007). The latter was nominated for the 2008 Gdynia Literary Prize in the prose category. He also published short stories and humorous sketches, including “Obsesyjne opowiadania bez motywacji” (Obsessive Stories with No Justification, 1981), “Szef i takie różne sprawy” (The Boss and All Sorts of Stuff, 1982), “Polujący z brzytwą” (The Hunter with a Razor, 1988), “Doktor inżynier zbrodni” (Doctor of Engineering of Crime, 1990), “Zabawne zbrodnie” (Amusing Crimes, 1998), “Drzazgi. Powabność bytu” (Splinters. The Allure of Being, 2009).

Ulman wrote plays and radio dramas. The comedy “Godziny błaznów w składnicy złomu” (Clown Hours at the Scrapyard, 1980), directed by Jan Kobuszewski, was staged at “Kwadrat” theatre in Warsaw from 1980 to 1982. It received an award in a competition organised by the Ministry of Culture and Art and the Committee of the Polish Festival of Contemporary Arts in Wrocław. “Transakcja z amnezją” (A Transaction with Amnesia, 1999) brought Ulman the first prize in the 1999 Talia National Comedy Competition. His play for children, Koty z gdańskiej gildii (Cats from the Gdańsk Guild, 1997), received the first prize in the National Stage Play Competition.

In 2010 Ulman published the poetry collection “Miąższ” (Flesh), in which he referred to philosophy and the paradoxes of life in the context of Christian faith. He also published a selection of satirical columns written between 1994 and 2011, “Oścień w mózgu” (A Goad in the Brain, 2011), reflecting on the norm of participation in social, political and cultural life. A short story of his was included in the collection “2008. Antologia współczesnych polskich opowiadań” (2008. Anthology of Contemporary Polish Short Stories), published by Forma.

Ulman devoted his time to teaching. He worked in secondary and tertiary education in Kołobrzeg, Słupsk and Koszalin, and was an academic at the Instytut Kształcenia Nauczycieli i Badań Oświatowych in Koszalin (Institute of Teacher Training and Education Research, 1972–1979). Between 1986 and 1989 he was a board member of the Koszalin branch of the Polish Writers’ Union. He received the Gold Cross of Merit (1975) and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1987).