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Ziemkiewicz, Rafał A

Entry updated 16 June 2025. Tagged: Author.

(1964-    ) Polish author of Fantastika, right-wing journalist and publicist, notable for his contributions to social science fiction and political discourse in post-communist Poland. After studying Polish literature at the University of Warsaw, from which he graduated with a master's thesis on science fiction, Ziemkiewicz became actively involved in the Polish Fandom community through his engagement with the SFAN association, the "Klub Tfurców" [roughly translatable as ­Kreators' Club] and contributions to leading Polish sf magazines such as Fantastyka and Fenix, serving as the latter's chief editor from 1990 to 1993.

Ziemkiewicz's fiction frequently explores Dystopian themes, critically engaging with contemporary Polish society and Politics from a right-wing, conservative perspective. His works often criticize what he perceives as threats to Polish identity and sovereignty, such as communism, totalitarianism, secularization, immigration, sexual minorities, and European federalist tendencies (ie. the European Union).

As a writer, he debuted in the regional literary magazine Odgłosy with the short story "Z palcem na spuscie" ["With the Finger on the Trigger"] (August 1982 Odgłosy), which went mostly unnoticed and has never been reprinted. It begins as typical Military SF, gradually revealing that the soldiers fighting a war on a distant planetary colony are Robots abandoned by their human creators and programmed to believe they are human. The narrative explores the Psychological consequences of this revelation: robots who uncover the truth either succumb to Suicide or spiral into murderous madness, prompting fellow robots to enforce memory wipes (see Memory Edit) and perpetuate the tragic cycle. Already evident here are Ziemkiewicz's recurring motifs of bleak existential revelations and critiques of manipulation and societal control. This early narrative's probing of Identity, autonomy, and the destructive power of hidden truths foreshadows his consistent exploration of human – and specifically Polish – experience in oppressive and Dystopian contexts. Further stories followed, some receiving more critical attention. In particular, "Cortex cerebri" (September 1982 Młody Technik) received an award, and "Pilot" (February 1983 Młody Technik) a mention, in a competition for best sf stories co-organized in Poland by several bodies (the SFAN association, the magazine Młody Technik, and two publishing houses). "Cortex cerebri" is a story of a military officer with a cyberimplant (see also Cyborgs; Medicine) who falls in love and decides to retire; this is considered a malfunction of his hardware by his superiors, who "fix" him and other similarly affected soldiers without their consent. In "Pilot", a caretaker of the titular military hero, now dying in a nursing home, learns that the story of his heroic exploits is mostly a propaganda creation, and his patient is actually a war criminal, or at least considers himself to be one.

Ziemkiewicz wrote several dozen short stories, mostly sf, over the next three decades, publishing them in various anthologies, collections, and magazines (mostly genre titles such as Nowa Fantastyka, Fenix and Science Fiction). His first book was a collection Władca szczurów ["Lord of the Rats"] (coll 1987), with many stories dealing with the oppressive nature of power, aggression towards those who rebel against the state, and brainwashing. 1990 saw his attempt at Slavic Fantasy, the novella Skarby skolinów ["Treasures of the Skolins"] (in Skarby skolinów coll 1990). His next collection was Zero złudzeń ["No Illusions"] (coll 1991) and his debut novel was Wybrańcy bogów ["Chosen of the Gods"] (1991). The latter, with its plot set on a failed Earth colony (see Colonization of Other Worlds), where dreams of radical Utopia led instead to the usual Dystopia, can be seen as fitting within similar critiques of totalitarianism often seen in Polish Sociological SF. That year also saw his "Jawnogrzesznica" ["The Public Sinner"] (in Jawnogrzesznica, anth 1991). Set in Near Future Poland, and portraying the country as a theocracy run by the corrupt church, it is considered one of the formative works of the Polish Klerykal Fiction subgenre.

His novel Pieprzony los kataryniarza ["The Damned Fate of an Organ-Grinder"] (1995) is a Near Future Cyberpunk story, with strong political overtones, set in a twenty-first-century Poland dominated by digital networks (see Internet). It follows a hacker protagonist, able to access Cyberspace through his brain implant, whose discovery of sensitive documents has the potential to reshape Europe's political landscape. The narrative criticizes both Technology's pervasive influence and the ethical ambiguity of modernity, and earned Ziemkiewicz his first Janusz A Zajdel Award, for best novel of 1995.

Next year saw his Czerwone dywany, odmierzony krok ["Red Carpets, Measured Step"] (coll 1996), a collection of pessimistic near future political thrillers portraying the Western, European world suffering from a crisis of identity, and Poland entangled in international conspiracies and espionage, reflecting skepticism towards post-communist political and cultural transformations. This collection includes the short story "Śpiąca królewna" ["Sleeping Beauty"], which won him his second Janusz A Zajdel Award. Its plot centres on a charity that collects funds for curing illnesses, and has built its identity on the titular sleeping beauty, a famous girl in a coma. In reality, the charity ensures that she never wakes up, so that its business will keep on running.

His subsequent novel, Walc stulecia ["Waltz of the Century"] (1998), contrasts societal values between the decadent Belle Époque era and a fictionalized future Poland. Through this story of a game developer creating a Virtual Reality project, Ziemkiewicz critically examines social evolution and moral decay, criticizing concepts such as political correctness and secularization. The novel won him his third and final Janusz A Zajdel Award.

Subsequent novels moved away from sf. 2005 saw a second, this time better received, attempt at Slavic fantasy, Ognie na skałach ["Fires on the Rocks"] (2005), and an experimental novel about love and divorce in the form of a long monologue: Ciało obce ["Foreign Body"] (2005). His next novel, Żywina (2008), depicts a journalistic investigation in modern Poland, offering a bleak social commentary on power struggles and societal breakdown. His final (to date) long fiction, Zgred ["Geezer"] (2011), presents a cynical yet humorous narrative about a Polish writer navigating midlife crises and political absurdities.

The 2000s also saw the end of his short-story period, with the last appearing in Cała kupa wielkich braci ["The Whole Pile of Big Brothers"] (coll 2002) and Coś mocniejszego ["Something Stronger"] (coll 2006). His final published short story was "Toast" (December 2011 Nowa Fantastyka), an Alternate History tale thematically centred on the anniversary of martial law in Poland of 1981 and the Solidarity Trade Union. In Ziemkiewicz's signature style of combining satire with social critique, it portrays a Poland where communism fell a decade earlier than in reality, and in which speculations that it could have lasted longer are met with disbelief and dismissed as poor fantastika, pointlessly questioning the Polish heroic spirit.

Although Zgred and "Toast" were his last works of fiction, Ziemkiewicz remains active as a journalist and publicist and has written (as of 2025) almost two dozen influential if controversial nonfiction works – mostly collections of essays – on Polish politics and culture, advocating right-wing and conservative viewpoints.

In addition to his three Zajdel awards, Ziemkiewicz received two Śląkfa Awards (1990 and 1998) from Polish Silesian Fandom for his literary achievements, and the governmental Bronze Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture in 2007.

His work remains largely untranslated outside Poland. Only a single short story – "Dobra wróżka" (February/March 1998 Magazyn Literacki), about the deepening addiction of a customer to his virtual geisha – has been translated into English (trans by Jolanta Pers and David J James as "A Fairy" in Chosen by Fate: Zajdel Award Winners Anthology anth 2000 ed Elżbieta Gepfert, Grzegorz Kozubski and Piotr W Cholewa). [PKo]

Rafał Aleksander Ziemkiewicz

born Piaseczono, Poland: 13 September 1964

works (selected)

  • Wybrańcy bogów ["Chosen of the Gods"] (Warsaw, Poland: Wydawnictwo Przedświt, 1991) [pb/]
  • Pieprzony los kataryniarza ["The Damned Fate of an Organ-Grinder"] (Warsaw, Poland: SuperNOWA, 1995) [pb/]
  • Walc stulecia ["Waltz of the Century"] (Warsaw, Poland: SuperNOWA, 1998) [pb/]
  • Ognie na skałach ["Fires on the Rocks"] (Lublin, Poland: Fabryka Słów, 2005) [pb/]

collections

links

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