Łukasz Orbitowski (born 26 October 1977) is a Polish essayist and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

writer. As of April 2012 he has published six novels and numerous short stories, collected in four anthologies.

Biography

Orbitowski is alumnus of the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

, with a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He debuted in 1999 with a short story anthology, ''Złe Wybrzeża''. His debut in fantasy genre was with the 2001 story ''Diabeł na Jabol Hill'' in the first issue of the Polish magazine ''

Science Fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

''. In addition to ''Science Fiction'', his stories have appeared in '' Machina'', ''

Nowa Fantastyka ''Nowa Fantastyka'' (established as ''Fantastyka'' in 1982, renamed in 1990) is a Polish speculative fiction monthly fantasy and science fiction magazine. It is the leading and oldest of the Polish magazines on this topic. History ''Fantastyk ...

'' and the Polish edition of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

.'' Most of his works fall in the fantasy and horror genre, although he has published one children's book (''Prezes i Kreska''). He is a co-author of the script for the CG movie by

Tomasz Bagiński Tomasz "Tomek" Bagiński (, born 10 January 1976 in Białystok) is a Polish illustrator, animator, producer and director. He is a self-taught artist. Education Bagiński studied architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology. Works His f ...

about the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

, '' Hardkor'44''. He also developed the

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

''Bakemono''. He also publishes essays in the

Przekrój ''Przekrój'' (; ''Cross-section'') was the oldest Polish weekly newsmagazine in operation, established in 1945 in Kraków. After temporary closure in 2013, it was bought by photographer Tomasz Niewiadomski and subsequently relaunched in December ...

magazine (from 2006–2008, and from 2010 till present). Orbitowski identifies as an atheist.

Reception

His 2007 novel ''Tracę ciepło'' has been nominated for the Janusz A. Zajdel Award. This novel has also received the Krakowska Książka Miesiąca (Kraków Book of the Month) award. Maciej Robert in the ''

Życie Warszawy ''Życie Warszawy'' (, ) was a Polish language newspaper published in Warsaw. Despite its name it was a national pro-establishment newspaper, but since 1990 it was an independent publication increasingly focused on local Varsovian issues. Histo ...

'' newspaper has noted that Orbitowski is "developing into a Polish

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

." He was one of the pioneers of horror stories set in mundane Polish backgrounds, in the modern cities of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Works

As of April 2012, Orbitowski has published six novels and numerous short stories, collected in four anthologies. Two more novels are officially planned, one with a release date for 2012, one not yet announced. Since 2010, Orbitowski's novel ''Warszawiacy'' is being published online in installments. * ''Złe Wybrzeża'' – short story anthology, Związek Literatów Polskich 1999 * ''Szeroki, głęboki, wymalować wszystko'' – short story anthology, Ha!art 2001 * ''Wigilijne psy'' – short story anthology, Editio 2005 * ''Horror show'', Ha!art 2006 * ''Tracę ciepło'',

Wydawnictwo Literackie Wydawnictwo Literackie (abbreviated WL, lit. "Literary Press") is a Kraków-based Polish publishing house, which has been referred to as one of Poland's "most respected". Company history Since its foundation in 1953, Wydawnictwo Literackie has ...

2007 * ''Pies i klecha'', t. 1. ''Przeciwko wszystkim'',

Fabryka Słów Fabryka Słów (English: ''Factory of Words'') is a Warsaw-based Polish publishing house. It was founded in Lublin in 2001 by Eryk Adam Górski and Robert Łakuta who always wanted to publish good literature they liked reading themselves. It is f ...

2007, with

Jarosław Urbaniuk Jarosław (; , ; ; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, situated on the San River. The town had 35,475 inhabitants in 2023. It is the capital of Jarosław County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. History Jarosław is located in the territory of ...

* ''Prezes i Kreska. Jak koty tłumaczą sobie świat'', Powergraph 2008 * ''Pies i klecha'', t. 2. ''Tancerz'',

2008, with Jarosław Urbaniuk * ''Święty Wrocław'',

2009 * ''Nadchodzi'' – short story anthology,

2010 * ''Widma'', Wydawnictwo Literackie 2012 * ''Ogień'', Narodowe Centrum Kultury 2012 * ''Szczęśliwa ziemia'', Wydawnictwo SQN 2013 * ''Rękopis znaleziony w gardle'' – short story anthology, BookRage 2014 * ''Zapiski Nosorożca. Moja podróż po drogach, bezdrożach i legendach Afryki'', Wydawnictwo SQN 2014 * ''Inna dusza'', Od Deski Do Deski 2015 * ''Rzeczy utracone'', Zwierciadło 2017 * ''Exodus'', Wydawnictwo SQN 2017 * ''Kult'', Świat Książki 2019 * ''Chodź ze mną'', Świat Książki 2022 * ''Inna dusza'', Świat Książki 2022 (New edition) * ''Wróg'', Świat Książki 2024

References

External links

Official homepage

2007 interview at horror.pl

2008 interview at Katedra

2009 radio interview
NINA {{DEFAULTSORT:Orbitowski, Lukasz 1977 births Polish fantasy writers Polish horror writers Living people Polish atheists