Wojciech Kuczok (born 18 October 1972 in

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

) is a Polish

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

and

speleologist Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). ...

Life and work

He graduated from

Stefan Batory Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

High School No. 3 in

. Previously, he attended

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; french: Jules Slowacki; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of mode ...

High School No. 1 from which he was expelled. He graduated in

film studies Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies. ...

from the

University of Silesia The University of Silesia in Katowice ( pl, Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach, UŚ) is an autonomous state-run university in Silesia Province, Katowice, Poland. The university offers higher education and research facilities. It offers undergradu ...

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

. In the 1990s he was a member of the ''Na Dziko'' poetry group. In the years 2009–2010 he was a fellow at the

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD (german: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), was founded in 1925 and is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation. Organisation ''DAAD'' is a ...

. His novel ''Gnój'' ("Muck") won Paszport Polityki Award in 2003 and the prestigious

Nike Award The Nike Literary Award ( pl, Nagroda Literacka „Nike") is a literary prize awarded each year for the best book of a single living author writing in Polish and published the previous year. It is widely considered the most important award for ...

in 2004. The book was filmed as ''Pręgi'', with his script, and the

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

won the

Gdynia Film Festival The Gdynia Film Festival (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland. It has taken place every year sinc ...

, also in 2004. Since 1992, he has published his poems and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

in various literary magazines and newspapers including ''

Gazeta Wyborcza ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of "real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the g ...

'', ''

Newsweek Polska ''Newsweek Polska'' is a Polish language weekly news magazine published in Poland as the Polish edition of ''Newsweek''. History ''Newsweek Polska'' was established in 2001. The founder of the weekly is Tomasz Wróblewski. The magazine is owned ...

'', '' Odra'', ''

Twórczość ''Twórczość'' (Creativity, or Creative Output) is a Polish monthly literary journal, first published in 1945. Since 1 April 2000, ''Twórczość'' has been published by the state-funded Book Institute (Instytut Książki).Rzeczpospolita () is the official name of Poland and a traditional name for some of its predecessor states. It is a compound of "thing, matter" and "common", a calque of Latin ''rés pública'' ( "thing" + "public, common"), i.e. ''republic'', in Engli ...

'' Plus Minus, ''

Dziennik Polska-Europa-Świat ''Dziennik Polska-Europa-Świat'' ( en, Daily Poland-Europe-World) was a Polish nationwide daily newspaper published by Ringier Axel Springer, a joint venture between Germany's Axel Springer Verlag publishing company and Swiss media company Ringie ...

'', ''Kresy'' and ''NaGłos''. Between 2000 and 2004 he worked for ''

Tygodnik Powszechny ''Tygodnik Powszechny'' (, ''The Common Weekly'') is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, published in Kraków, which focuses on social, cultural and political issues. It was established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sap ...

'' and ''Kino'' magazines. In the years 2004–2005 he was a sports

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

at ''Rzeczpospolita''. He also worked as a columnist for ''Metropol'', ''Zwierciadło'' and ''

Przegląd Sportowy ''Przegląd Sportowy'' (, ''Sports Review'') is the oldest and now the only Polish sports daily, founded in 1921 in Kraków. In 1926 it initiated an annual, popular plebiscite for the Polish Sportspersonality of the Year. Its current editor-in-chie ...

''. He is also a

and among his notable achievements in this field are the discoveries of the Dująca Cave in

Beskid Śląski Silesian Beskids (Polish: , Czech: , german: Schlesische Beskiden) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Most of the ...

in 2005 and Twarda Cave in

Kraków-Częstochowa Upland The Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, also known as the Polish Jurassic Highland or Polish Jura ( pl, Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska), is part of the Jurassic System of south–central Poland, stretching between the cities of Kraków, Częstochowa an ...

in 2010. He also took part in the exploration of the Cisęć Cave in Kraków-Częstochowa Upland as well as Lodowa Małołącka Cave in the

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak language, Slovak () or in Polish language, Polish () - ''plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovak ...

in 1997. The author is strongly connected with his home region of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

and personally is a supporter of

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish association football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland: fourteen-time national champions, and three-time winners of the Polish Cup. Currently the team play ...

football club. In 2013, he married journalist and writer Agata Passent.

Selected works

* ''Opowieści samowite'', 1996 * ''Larmo'', 1998 * ''Opowieści słychane'', 1999 * ''Gnój'', ("Muck"), 2003 * ''Widmokrąg'', 2004 * ''Opowieści przebrane'', 2005 * ''Senność'', ("Sleepiness") 2008 * ''Moje projekcje'', ("My Projections"), 2009 * ''Spiski. Przygody tatrzańskie'', 2010 * ''Poza światłem'', ("Beyond Light"), 2012 * ''Obscenariusz'', (a collection of short stories) 2013 * ''Prosze mnie nie budzić'', ("Please Don't Wake Me Up"), 2016 * ''Czarna'', ("Black"), 2017

References

Polish male writers 1972 births Living people People from Chorzów Nike Award winners {{Poland-writer-stub