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(b. 1980) – a poet, curator and animator of the literary scene. An author of experimental poetry, partly akin to Concretism. His poetry works…
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Fiction
Maciej Płaza
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The Book Institute offers translations of excerpts from Maciej Płaza’s works in the following languages: English and German. Interested parties are kindly invited to contact us.
(b. 1976) – a prose writer, translator and Doctor of the Humanities.
His interests mainly circulate around the relations between literature and philosophy. His book on the work of Stanisław Lem, ‘O poznaniu w twórczości Stanisława Lema’ (On Knowledge in the Work of Stanisław Lem, 2006) – written on the basis of his PhD thesis – was the first synthesis of epistemological issues in Lem’s work.
Płaza has published in Pamiętnik Literacki, Kresy and Akcent. For his debut short-story collection, ‘Skoruń’ (Skin and Bones, 2015) – tales set in the 1980s about a longing for the unknown and entering adulthood in a small village near Sandomierz – he received the Gdynia Literary Award (2016) and the Kościelski Foundation Award (2016). He was also a finalist for the Nike Literary Award and was nominated for the Witold Gombrowicz Literary Award.
His next book, the novel ‘Robinson w Bolechowie’ (Robinson in Bolechów, 2017) – depicting a family history against a backdrop of war and post-war reality, with the Bolechów palace at its core – was honoured with the Angelus Central European Literary Award (2018).
For the novel Golem (2021), in turn, drawing from a Jewish legend, a figure from the Judaic tradition, forged of clay and called to life through Kabbalah, he gives the reader a vision of Hasidic culture and a Podole shtetl in the early twentieth century. This book secured him a nomination City of Warsaw Literary Award and the Nike Literary Award (2022).
Much of Maciej Płaza’s work is translations from English-language literature. Apart from academic titles (Brian McHale and Fredric Jameson), Płaza has translated some classics (Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Mary Shelley), contemporary literature (Christos Tsiolkas, Mark Helprin) and literature for children (Kenneth Grahame). Płaza has received a Literatura na Świecie award in the ‘New Face’ category (2012) for his translations – a selection of short stories by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror and Others.
Bibliography
prose:
- Skoruń, Warsaw: W.A.B., 2015.
- Robinson w Bolechowie, Warsaw: W.A.B., 2017.
- Golem, Warsaw: W.A.B., 2021.
academic papers:
- O poznaniu w twórczości Stanisława Lema, Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 2006.
translation works (selected):
- Christos Tsiolkas, Martwa Europa [Dead Europe], Zakrzewo: Replika, 2010.
- Fredric Jameson, Archeologie przyszłości. Pragnienie zwane utopią i inne fantazje naukowe [Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions], (other translators: Małgorzata Frankiewicz, Andrzej Miszk], Cracow: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2011.
- Fredric Jameson, Postmodernizm, czyli Logika kulturowa późnego kapitalizmu [Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism], Cracow: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2011.
- Brian McHale, Powieść postmodernistyczna [Postmodernist fiction], Cracow: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2011.
- Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Zgroza w Dunwich i inne przerażające opowieści [The Dunwich Horror and Others], Poznań: Vesper, 2012.
- Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Przyszła na Sarnath zagłada. Opowieści niesamowite i fantastyczne [The Doom that Came to Sarnath], Czerwonak: Vesper, 2016.
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, czyli Współczesny Prometeusz [Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus], Czerwonak: Vesper, 2013.
- Jenny Diski, Lata sześćdziesiąte [The Sixties], Łódź: Wydawnictwo Officyna, 2013.
- Kenneth Grahame, O czym szumią wierzby [The Wind in the Willows], Czerwonak: Vesper, 2014.
- Mark Helprin, Zimowa opowieść [Winter’s tale], Cracow: Wydawnictwo Otwarte, 2014.
- Mark Helprin, Pamiętnik z mrówkoszczelnej kasety [Memoir from Antproof Case], Cracow: Wydawnictwo Otwarte, 2014.
- Marjorie Perloff, Ostrze ironii. Modernizm w cieniu monarchii habsburskiej [Edge Of Irony: Modernism In The Shadow Of The Habsburg Empire], Wrocław: Ossolineum, 2018.
- DeSales Harrison, Zostaw ten świat pełen płaczu [The Waters and the Wild], Warsaw: Marginesy, 2019.
- Arthur Machen, Wzgórze przyśnień [The Hill of Dreams], Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 2020.
- Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Koty Ultharu [The Cats of Ulthar], Czerwonak: Vesper, 2021.
- Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Przyczajona groza [The Lurking Fear], Czerwonak: Vesper, 2023.
- Lord Dunsany, Bogowie Pegāny i inne opowieści fantastyczne [The Gods of Pegāna], Czerwonak: Vesper, 2023.
- William Faulkner, Flagi pokrył kurz [Flags in the dust], Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 2023.
Translations
English:
- Excerpt from a Novel [Golem, excerpt], trans. Antonia Lloyd-Jones, in: 18. Jewish Stories Translated from 18 Languages, edited by Nora Gold, Brookline: Cherry Orchard Books, 2023.
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