Mateusz Pakuła

(b. 1983) – a prose writer, dramaturg and creator of radio plays.

He is a dramaturgy graduate at the Theatre Directing Faculty at the Theatre Academy in Krakow. His work is marked by a deep intertextuality and a blurring of such forms as drama, stand-up and television talk show; he also enjoys using Surrealist metaphors. He directs theatre. In recent years, especially in his prose, he has more broadly drawn from autobiographical themes and exploring family histories, accompanied by a turn towards literary communication.

Mateusz Pakuła debuted in 2010 with the drama collection ‘Biały Dmuchawiec. Pięć sztuk teatralnych’ (White Dandelion: Five Plays). The eponymous play, for which the author was singled out at the first edition of the Competition for the Gdynia Dramaturgical Award, details of two reporters’ investigation into a killing committed several years before in a small mountain community. The grotesque, numerous narrative gaps and a clever play with a mockumentary style heralded this author’s future aesthetic concerns. He took an award in the aforementioned Gdynia competition for his acclaimed ‘Smutki tropików’ (Sadness of the Tropics). Published in 2015 as part of the ‘Panoptikon’ (Panopticon) collection, it leans heavily on digital aesthetics; here the game with the viewer is understood literally, the story is constructed like an RPG script.

The author had his breakthrough a year later with ‘Wieloryb the Globe’ (Whale the Globe). The play was written for Krzysztof Globisz, who was returning to the stage after a stroke. From then on, illness was to become a major point of reference in Pakuła’s writing. In his prose debut,  2021’s ‘Jak nie zabiłem swojego ojca i jak bardzo tego żałuję’ (How I Didn’t Kill My Father and How I Regret It), he describes his father’s illness, aiming his critique at caretaking institutions, the Church and the healthcare system. This book can be seen as a strident voice for euthanasia. It was turned into a play, which, much like the book, was highly acclaimed by viewers and critics.

Mateusz Pakuła has received many awards and distinctions. The most important ones have been: Gdynia Dramaturgical Award (2014) for Sadness of the Tropics, a nomination for the Gdynia Literary Award (2022) for How I Didn’t Kill My Father and How I Regret It, the Polityka Passport in theatre (2023), and for the Nike Literary Award (2025) for ‘Skóra po dziadku’ (Skin of My Grandfather). The jury of the Witold Gombrowicz Literary Award gave him a month’s residency in Vence for his literary debut. He was also singled out for his dramatic productions, taking the Grand Prix at the 29^th Polish Competition for Staging Polish Contemporary Theatre for How I Didn’t Kill My Father and How I Regret It. Pakuła’s prose has been translated into French.