Fahrenheit
Entry updated 17 November 2025. Tagged: Publication.
Polish Online Magazine (1997-current). Founded and first edited by Andrzej Ziemiański and Eugeniusz Dębski, Fahrenheit – named as a tribute to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1953) – is generally recognized as the oldest Polish online Fanzine devoted to Fantastika. It has been available exclusively in digital form since its launch in 1997.
Established at a time when Polish Fandom was shifting from print fanzines to Internet publication (lagging a few years behind the richer Western countries), Fahrenheit quickly became one of the most important Polish online literary magazines. Between 1999 and 2000 Fahrenheit awarded the short-lived Nagroda Elektrybałta (Electronic Bard Award) to works that debuted online (it was awarded to three texts, with the winners being Antonina Liedtke, Piotr Cholewa and Grzegorz Wiśniewski). In May 2001 it merged with another sf fanzine, Tomasz Pacyński's Fantazin, briefly ceasing its semi-monthly publication and launching a web portal under the title Fahrenheit & Fantazin (vt Fahrenheit i Fantazin, F&F). In July 2002 it reverted to the old style and name, while absorbing another fanzine, Eugeniusz Dębski's Srebrny Glob.
Fahrenheit managed a steady semi-monthly rhythm for its first four years, achieved true monthly status briefly in 2003-2004, and then gradually slowed, down to less than quarterly in the late 2000s. Its last numbered issue, #70, appeared in January 2011. After a year-long hiatus, in April 2012 Fahrenheit was revised in the continuously updated portal format.
Editors-in-chief have included: Andrzej Ziemiański (1997-2001); Eugeniusz Dębski (2002-2004); Tomasz Pacyński (2004-2005); Dominika Repeczko (2005-2012); Dorota Pacyńska (2012-2019), and Maciej Tomczak (2019-current).
Fahrenheit publishes original fiction, reviews of all forms of media, interviews, editorials and essays on Fantastika. It is known as a friendly venue for new writers, introducing authors such as Marta Kisiel, Magdalena Kozak, Paweł Paliński, Martyna Raduchowska, and Aleksandra Zielińska. Its contests and workshops aiming to train emerging writers and editors produced two print anthologies – Kochali się, że strach ["A Love to Die For"] (2007) and Nawiedziny ["The Haunting"] (2009) – edited by Dominika Repeczko, both published by Fabryka Słów. Beside debut authors, the magazine also published stories and essays by established figures such as Jakub Ćwiek, Jacek Dukaj, Anna Kańtoch and Andrzej Pilipiuk.
It has been recognized as one of the most professional Polish online magazines, notable for its longevity, regular publication, consistent layout and high-end graphics, and balanced combination of literary, journalistic, and critical writing. It is often cited as the prototype for later Polish sf webzines such as Esensja and Creatio Fantastica. Within Polish fandom, it functions much like Locus in the Anglophone sphere – an enduring focal point linking amateur and professional sf communities. [PKo]
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