Anna Cieplak

(b. 1988) – a writer and cultural animator.

The work of Anna Cieplak is mainly composed of literature for young people and adults, with sociological and class-based themes. She depicts the world of young people from working-class families, their aspirations, frustrated hopes and everyday lives in the Polish countryside. Her novels use a simple language and often borrow conventions from dramas.

She debuted with a children’s book, ‘Zaufanie’ (Trust), written with reporter Lidia Ostałowska and illustrated by Anna Pluta. Cieplak’s first solo book, ‘Ma być czysto’ (It Should Be Clean, 2016), was honoured with the Conrad Award and the Witold Gombrowicz Literary Award, and was made into a film by Dawid Nickel, ‘Ostatni komers’ (Love Tasting, 2020). The book is about growing up in a Silesian housing estate, and, like the author’s following novel, ‘Lata powyżej zera’ (Years Above Zero, 2017), it portrays young Poles from the countryside.

Published in 2019, ‘Lekki bagaż’ (Light Baggage), in turn, describes the difficulties NGOs and those using their assistance face in small communities. In her following novels, the spectrum of Cieplak’s themes and literary interests grew further: ‘Rozpływaj się’ (Disintegrate, 2021) is a novel that tells of the life of ‘Euro-orphans’, and her latest book, ‘Ciało huty’ (The Body of the Factory, 2023), has two narrative planes – covering both the time of the construction of the Katowice Plant, and its contemporary legacy. Cieplak has also published in numerous anthologies and collections (such as ‘Silna’ [Strong] or Utopay).

Apart from literature, Anna Cieplak is involved in promoting culture: she has spent many years working with the Krytyka Polityczna movement and publishing house (2008–19), she has run creative writing workshops and animated educational projects for children and young adults. She is the co-founder and chair of the Pracownia Współtwórcza Foundation council.

Cieplak has received a range of awards and distinctions for her work, including the Conrad Award and the Witold Gombrowicz Literary Award (for 2016), as well as the Silesian Honoris Krauza Literary Award (2024). She has twice been nominated for the Nike Literary Award (for 2018 and 2021), and for a Polityka Passport (2017), the Gdynia Literary Award (for 2016) and the EU Prize for Literature (2019).

Fragments of Anna Cieplak’s works have been translated into English, German, Slovak and Slovenian. In January 2026, a full translation of The Body of the Factory will be published in German.