Marek Ławrynowicz

(b. 1950) – a prose writer, author of radio and television plays, and a scriptwriter.

After graduating from the Polish Studies Faculty of the University of Warsaw, he tried his hand at various jobs. In 1974, he made his debut as a poet, and for several years made visual poetry and performances, but ultimately turned to prose. In 1990, a collection of his short stories was published, ‘Pan Słoik’ (Mr Jar), and six years later, his first novel – ‘Kapitan Car’ (Captain Car). Wider public acclaim and interest from the literary critics came with his next book, ‘Diabeł na dzwonnicy’ (Devil on the Bell Tower, 1998). In this novel, he described the complex story of an ordinary Polish family, observed, or rather spied on for several decades: from the outbreak of World War I to the 1950s, when the main protagonists were forced to leave Soviet Vilnius. One critic very aptly observed this was an attempt to oppose the cruelties of the twentieth century through laughter.

In the novel ‘Kino „Szpak”’ (The Starling Cinema), the writer looked back to his early youth; he sensitively and convincingly reconstructed the mood and setting of a small town outside Warsaw in the late 1960s. Ławrynowicz’s novel that most concerned public affairs, most deeply rooted in present-day reality, was the next one, ‘Pogoda dla wszystkich’ (Weather for Everyone). This is the story of a middle-aged man who loses his memory. Cut off from the past and his recollections, he lets the tide of life carry him along. His identity is determined by strangers and unexpected situations. In this novel, as in the ones before, the writer’s satirical instincts come to the fore. Here too, the world of Polish politics, the media and advertisements are shown in a funhouse mirror, where base lies and extreme cynicism are king, and where people are manipulated every step of the way. This is basically the first of Ławrynowicz’s novels with a pessimistic message: the occasional honest person has no chance in confronting the brutal mechanisms that rule the modern world.

In ‘Mumia świętego Piotra’ (Saint Peter’s Mummy), he writer explored the thriller genre. The action is set in World War II and develops swiftly around the discovery of a mysterious artifact that might change the course of the war and save the life of Professor Jakub Henefeld and his family. The author spreads his wings in an entertaining and suspenseful plot.

In his most recent book, Malinówek, Ławrynowicz returns to Poland, discovering the social mechanisms in small-town relationships. This book first came out as a radio play featuring Krzysztof Kowalewski. Although the story is fiction, its micro-world shows patterns of behaviour we all know to be true.