Filip Zawada

(b. 1975) – a Polish writer, poet, musician, photographer and performance artist.

His work spans many genres and uses various media, including poetry, prose, music and visual art. Zawada creates literature that is firmly rooted in the experience of everyday life and the problems of human relationships (especially families). The author uses a personal, often melancholy language, but not devoid of self-defacing humour; his work is marked by a focus on authenticity and a striving for profound emotional sincerity.

He made his debut in 1997 with the poetry volume, And-White System, and in later years, he mainly published poetry – often paying special attention to the visual side of his books. ‘Snajper’ (Sniper, 2004) was illustrated by his own photographs, and ‘Trzy ścieżki nad jedną rzeką sumują się’ (Three Paths on One River Add Up, 2014) was also published as a folding book. Zawada made his prose debut in 2011 with ‘Psy pociągowe’ (Dogs of Burden). His prose works with poetic images, composed to make montages. His poetics are organised into brief statements, often focused on an autobiographically motivated detail or leading to an unexpected point, both in his poetry and his prose.

Zawada is also an active musician: for years he played bass in Pustki and Indigo Tree, and performed solo as ITOITO. He has written music for plays and films, including ‘Dziewczyna z szafy’ (The Girl in the Wardrobe, 2012, dir. Bodo Kox). In 2013, he selected and wrote and afterword to the lyrics of Lech Janerka, collected in ‘Śpij Aniele mój / Bez kolacji’ (Sleep My Angel / Without Dinner). Zawada is employed in the Centre for Creative Attitudes photography studio in Wrocław, where he lectures in art courses. As a result of his workshops run with Krzysztof Solarewicz, the Stowarzyszenie Ocalić Szansę (Save a Chance Association) SOS for wards aged ten to fifteen, was a photo book co-edited by Zawada, ‘Fenomenalne powierzchnie tnące’ (A Phenomenal Cutting Surface, 2014).

His work has brought him a range of nominations for Poland’s leading literary distinctions, such as the Wrocław Silesius Poetry Award (2015), Gdynia Literary Award (2012 and 2015) and the Nike Literary Award (2020).

His works have been translated into English, Czech and Serb.