Marek Bieńczyk (Polish pronunciation: ; born 6 July 1956) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

writer, historian of literature, translator, essayist and

oenologist Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

. In 2012, he won the

Nike Award The Nike Literary Award (, pronounced ) 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 Polish literatu ...

, Poland's top literary prize, for his collection of essays ''Book of Faces''.

Life and career

Born in 1956 in

Milanówek Milanówek is a town and urban gmina, commune in central Poland, in the Grodzisk Mazowiecki County in the Masovian Voivodeship. Located near Warsaw, it is often considered an outlying suburb of the capital of Poland but is in fact an independent e ...

, Poland, he studied Romance Languages and Literature at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

and has worked as a historian at the Institute of Literary Research of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

(PAN). He is also a visiting professor at 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 ...

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 ...

. He has collaborated with the ''

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 the French quarterly '' L'Atelier du roman''. He specializes in Polish literary

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

and contemporary French literature. His academic debut was published in 1990 and was titled ''Czarny człowiek. Zygmunt Krasiński wobec śmierci'' (The Black Man –

Zygmunt Krasiński Count Napoleon Stanisław Adam Feliks Zygmunt Krasiński (; 19 February 1812 – 23 February 1859) was a Polish poet traditionally ranked after Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki as one of Poland's Three Bards – the Romantic poets who ...

on Death). In 1999, his book ''Tworki'' won

Paszport Polityki Paszport Polityki (Polityka's Passport) is an annual Polish cultural award presented by the weekly magazine '' Polityka'' since 1993. It is presented in six major categories: literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written wor ...

and a year later was awarded the

Władysław Reymont Władysław Stanisław Reymont (; born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the laureate of the 1924 Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasant ...

Literary Prize. In 2012, he received the

for his collection of essays ''Książka twarzy'' (Book of Faces), the title of which ironically alludes to the

social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...

Facebook. In 2013, he was awarded the Illustrated Book of the Year Award (Polish national section of IBBY) for his book ''Książe w cukierni'' (''Prince in a Cake Shop''.). In 2019, he was nominated for another Nike Award for his book ''Kontener''. He is also known as a translator of French-language literature, most notably the works of

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera ( ; ; 1 April 1929 – 11 July 2023) was a Czech and French novelist. Kundera went into exile in France in 1975, acquiring citizenship in 1981. His Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, but he was granted Czech citizenship ...

(''

Immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...

'', '' Slowness'', ''

Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

'', '' The Festival of Insignificance''),

Emil Cioran Emil Mihai Cioran (; ; ; 8 April 1911 – 20 June 1995) was a Romanian philosopher, aphorist and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French. His work has been noted for its pervasive philosophical pessimism, style, and aphorism ...

and

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 25 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popu ...

. His books have been translated into several languages including Bulgarian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Spanish and Ukrainian. He is a member of the Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers (FIJEV) and collaborates with the Kraków-based Collegium Vini. He has published articles on wine in such newspapers and magazines as ''

Gazeta Wyborcza (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Forbes'', ''Magazyn Wino'' and ''Kuchnia''. Together with Wojciech Bońkowski, he co-wrote Poland's first oenological guide called ''Wina Europy'' (Wines of Europe).

Selected works

*''Terminal'', Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warsaw, 1994 () *''Tworki'', Wydawnictwo Sic!, Warsaw, 1999 ()

Collections of essays

*''Czarny człowiek. Krasiński wobec śmierci'', Literary Research Institute PAN, Warsaw, 1990 () *''Szybko i szybciej – eseje o pośpiechu w kulturze'', Warsaw, 1996 () *''Melancholia. O tych co nigdy nie odnajdą straty'', Wydawnictwo Sic!, Warsaw, 1998 () *''Oczy Dürera. O melancholii romantycznej'', Wydawnictwo Sic!, Warsaw, 2002 () *''Przezroczystość'', Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków, 2007 () *''Książka twarzy'', Świat książki – Weltbild Polska, Warsaw, 2011 () *''Jabłko Olgi, stopy Dawida'', Wielka Litera, Warsaw, 2015 () *''Kontener'', Wielka Litera, Warsaw, 2018 ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bieńczyk, Marek Living people 1956 births Polish male writers Polish literary historians Polish essayists Polish translators Nike Award winners People from Milanówek University of Warsaw alumni

Life and career

Selected works

Collections of essays

See also

References