Wojciech Kopeć

(b. 1998) – a poet, editor and literary critic.

Kopeć’s debut volume of poetry, ‘przyjmę/oddam/wymienię:’ (I take/I give/I exchange:, 2021), as Jakub Skurtys wrote, tests readers’ habituation ‘to things and commodities, placing them in new and unusual relationships’. Here, a source of inspiration is the Surrealist rebellion against utilitarianism. The volume makes us to inquire into the ‘principle that governs a world in which the circulation of objects evades commodification, and thus question the classical theory of value.’ In his second book of poems, ‘jest taki konik’ (there’s this pony, 2023), the weird Surrealist moods are paired with Dadaism and Expressionism; it is no longer just objects that are studied, but relations as well. Kopeć creates an alternate world and tells its story – the countryside is soon to be replaced by the city, poems occur ‘at construction sites’. ‘Klif, dywiz i sestyna’ (Cliff, Hyphen, Sestina, 2024), as Skurtys writes, ‘is mainly focused on exploring the capabilities and limitations of the poem’s concrete measures to create the textual space.’

Wojciech Kopeć was the winner of the Means of Expression 2020 Polish Poetry Competition and the 29^th Polish Poetry Competition for the K. K. Baczyński Award. He received a prize in the New Textual Document 2021 Competition for Literary Book in the verse category. I take/I give/I exchange: won a prize at the Golden Mean of Poetry 2022 Polish Literary Competition and the Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna Polish Poetry Award for Best Poetry Debut of the Year 2022. Kopeć’s second book, there’s this pony, was honoured with the Gdynia Literary Award 2024 in the poetry category. His poems have been translated into Ukrainian.

In 2023 and 2024, Kopeć appeared at the Miłosz Festival, where meetings were organised for his books. He was also a guest at the Conrad Festival in 2023.

In his work for KONTENT publishers, he was the editor behind Filip Matwiejczuk’s ‘Pasożyt’ (Parasite, 2023), Marcin Podlaski’s czeznia (2024) and Jakub Gutkowski’s livestream (2025). In 2024, he became the publishing house’s editor-in-chief.

He has published critical and literary pieces in Odra, Notatnik Literacki, Więź, Czas Kultury, Mały Format, Trytytka, Nowy Napis, Strona Czynna, Tlen Literacki, Stoner Polski, Liberté!, Drobiazgi, Zakład Magazyn, Iglica and Dziennik Literacki. In 2024, he took second place in the Tymoteusz Karpowicz Competition for literary review.

He has received an MA in literary criticism from the Jagiellonian University. His thesis, ‘Tropy dadaistyczne w polskiej poezji po roku 2000’ (Dadaist Tropes in Polish Poetry after the Year 2000) took third place in the MA project competition organised by the Jagiellonian University Faculty of Polish Studies. He lives in Krakow.