LITERARY COMPETITION
The first edition of the Zygmunt Haupt festival was preceded by a literary competition addressed to people who had not yet debuted as writers of prose.
The competition topic was “Kontramarka” and its extension could be found in the following excerpt of the story “Meine liebe Mutter, sei stolz, Ich trage die Fahne” by Zygmunt Haupt: “Before I part with Szymbark, before the green gables draw themselves behind me and occlude the house, the trees, the Wygnanka oil wells, the river and the bridge, I shall quickly examine my conscience, withdraw into myself. The whole matter is so simple and uncomplicated that in memory it will resemble a string of ideograms, a pattern. That there were once three sisters (or was it four?), the house, the trees, the gables’ humps and backs, the calm and the emotions of people living separately, and still, touch it lightly, flick the transparent ball they live in with a finger – it will make a sound, vibrate like a string and another one just like it, tense within me, will answer with resonance. You can forget everything, just keep one detail, a sample to test, a catalogue code, a countermark that can be shown in the countermarkroom to collect all the luggage, a stockpile left in oblivion.”
Stories up to 15 pages of normalised typescript were admitted to the competition. Authors could partake under the condition that they had not yet published a prose debut – where the “prose debut” was defined as “a book written in prose, signed with one’s own name, assigned an ISBN number.”
THE JURY OF THE COMPETITION
The submitted papers were evaluated by a jury composed of:
MAGDALENA BUDZIŃSKA – Graduated from the Polish Studies Department (editing-publishing specialisation) and the Philosophy Institute of the University of Warsaw. Since 2005 she has been working as an editor and since 2007 she maintaining a permanent managing editor position at the Czarne Publishing House. She has also worked for WAB, PIW, and Czarna Owca. She has edited over 70 books by Polish and foreign authors. She also researches and reviews English-language literature and coordinates the production of books.
DAREK FOKS – Poet, writer of prose, screenwriter. Member of the “Twórczość” editorial team, where he is head of the prose department. Has taken part in national and international literary festivals. Awarded the main prize in the “bruLion” poetry competition, the Natalia Gall Award, and – together with Zbigniew Libera – TVP Kultura Award for the book “Co robi łączniczka,” to name a few. His publications include “Ustalenia z Maastricht,” “Wielkanoc z tygrysem,” and „Debordaż”. His works have been published in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the USA, Ukraine, and the UK. His book “Kebab Meister,” published by ha!art, was nominated for the Gdynia Literary Award 2013. In 2014 he was awarded the Wroclaw Silesius Poetry Award and his poetry volume “Rozmowy z głuchym psem” was nominated to the Nike Literary Awards and the Gdynia Literary Award.
JAROSŁAW KLEJNOCKI – Author, poet, essayist, and literary critic. Assistant professor at the University of Warsaw’s Institute of Applied Polish Studies (IPS), and director of the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature. Author of collections of poetry and essays, critical and research books, crime fiction. Author of 10 volumes of poetry (the last of which, titled “W proch,” 2011, was publish only as an e-book), several volumes of essays as well as critical and research books (recently: “Literatura w czasach zarazy,” 2006), a autobiographical novel (“Jak nie zostałem menelem,” 2002), and three crime novels (recently: “Człowiek ostatniej szansy,” 2010). He runs a literary criticism blog – “Raptularz końca czasów” (wydawnictwoliterackie.pl) and the museum blog “Poza regulaminem” (muzeumliteratury.pl). Co-wrote (with his wife) the book “Próba miłości. Jak pokochać cudze dziecko” (Czarne, 2014).
ZOFIA KRÓL – Editor-in-chief of the dwutygodnik.com culture magazine. Literary critic and historian, PhD in philosophy. Book author, wrote “Powrót do świata. Dzieje uwagi w filozofii i literaturze XX wieku” (2013). Has published in “Gazeta Wyborcza,” “Zeszyty Literackie,” and “Tygodnik Powszechny.”
THE JURY’S VERDICT
Main prize: 5000 PLN, the story’s publication in the monthly “Twórczość,” and later on the festival website, as well as an invitation to take part in the festival: BARTOSZ KONSTRAT – “TO WSZYSTKO NA TEN TEMAT.”
1st Distinction: BOGDAN NOWICKI – “WIZERUNKI.”
2nd Distinction: GRZEGORZ TOMICKI – “PUNKT ZERO.”
JUSTIFICATION
“Reading almost three hundred stories is not a normal activity for a normal human being. However, the jury composed of experienced readers turned out to be, by all means, normal. With this number of texts it was very likely that the jury’s deliberations, scheduled for early forenoon, would turn into a lengthy scramble lasting till late night. No such thing. The proceedings were extremely calm. Without any major problems we managed to choose three best pieces of writing. We have rewarded “Punkt zero” by Grzegorz Tomicki for its rich ornamentics and topographic stubbornness, and “Wizerunki” by Bogdan Nowicki for its successful stylistic homage to Zygmunt Haupt’s prose. Bartosz Konstrat owes his victory with the story “To wszystko na ten temat” to the sense of humour, the nostalgia, the irony, and probably this sentence: ‘Sometimes I enter a room filled with women – and every one of them is my mother’.” | Darek Foks
MAIN PRIZE
BARTOSZ KONSTRAT – Born in 1977 in Lublin, he lives in Warsaw. Poet, playwright, audiovisual and literary translator. Author of the poetry volumes: “thanatos jeans” (2005, main prize in the Jacek Bierezin Competition), “traktaty konstrata” (2008), “samochody i krew” (ha!art, 2009, nomination for the Silesius prize), and “dzika kość. encyklopedia utraconych szans” (2013, main prize in the Ratoń Competition, nomination for the Silesius prize), “własny holokaust” (2015, main prize in the Tyska Zima Poetycka Competition). He has also written the play “Powietrze. Opowieść o kraju i planecie” (premiered at the Druga Strefa Theatre in Warsaw, 2013). His works translated into English, German, Lithuanian, Latvian, Bulgarian and Basque.
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