Wojciech Chmielarz

(b. 1984) – writer, screenwriter, journalist.

Considered to be one of the most important contemporary crime writers in Poland; he has also written psychological thrillers and suspense novels. His publications include a cycle of crime novels about commissioner Jakub Mortka – “Podpalacz” (The Arsonist, 2012), “Farma lalek” (The Doll Farm, 2013), “Przejęcie” (Interception, 2014), “Osiedle marzeń” (The Estate of Dreams, 2016), “Cienie” (Shadows, 2018), “Długa noc” (The Long Night, 2022), “Rytuał” (The Ritual, 2025) – and the so-called Gliwice trilogy: “Wampir” (The Vampire, 2015), “Zombie” (2017) and “Wilkołak” (The Werewolf, 2021).

Chmielarz’s writing has been published in periodicals including “Puls Biznesu”, “Press”, “Nowa Fantastyka”, “Pocisk” and “Polityka”. He also was the editor-in-chief of the portal niwserwis.pl, about organised crime, terrorism and international security. He is a member of the Unia Literacka writers’ association.

Chmielarz has received multiple nominations for the High Calibre Award, which he was awarded in 2015 for Interception. In 2019 he was the winner of the Readers’ High Calibre Award for “Żmijowisko” (The Vipers’ Nest), and received the “Złoty Pocisk” (Golden Bullet) in the best crime novel category for the same book. 2022 brought him the Empik Bestseller award for the Empik Go Original audio drama The Werewolf (based on the novel of the same title) and the Grand Prix of the Criminal Warsaw Festival for the novel “Dług honorowy” (Debt of Honour). In 2023, in turn, The Long Night received the Kryminalna Piła Festival Award for the Best Polish Urban Crime Novel.

His novel The Vipers’ Nest was the basis of a series made for Canal+ (script: Dana Łukasińska and Wojciech Chmielarz, directed by Łukasz Palkowski).