Marek Krajewski (born 4 September 1966, in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

) is a Polish

crime writer True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...

. He is best known for his series of

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

s set in pre-war

(which was, at the time, Breslau) with the policeman Eberhard Mock as the protagonist. These novels have been translated into 18 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, and Russian among others.

Life and career

He was born on 4 September 1966 in

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million near ...

. In 1985, he graduated from the

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; french: Jules Slowacki; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the " Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of mo ...

High School No. 9 in Wrocław. Between 1985 and 1991 he studied

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Class ...

at the

University of Wrocław , ''Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau'' (before 1945) , free_label = Specialty programs , free = , colors = Blue , website uni.wroc.pl The University of Wrocław ( pl, Uniwersytet Wrocławski, U ...

. In 1992, he obtained an

MA degree A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and in 1999, he received a

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

. He worked as a librarian and later as an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

and lecturer at the Institute of Classical Philology and Ancient Culture of the University of Wrocław. Since 2007, he has focused on pursuing his professional career as a writer of primarily

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

. In 2005, he was the recipient of the Paszport Polityki Award presented by the ''

Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. With a circulation of 200,050 (as of April 2011), it was the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of ''Newsweek''s Polish edition, '' Newsweek Polska'', and ''Wp ...

'' magazine. His other awards include the High Calibre Award (Polish: ''Nagroda Wielkiego Kalibru''), the Witryna Award conferred by Polish booksellers and the Book Institute Award for best Polish

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

. In 2015, he was awarded Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. In 2016, he also won the Georg Dehio Book Prize – a prize which recognizes authors who "in their literary, scholarly or public work, address the themes of the common culture and history of the German people and their Eastern neighbors at a high level and from a broad perspective." In 2018, Polish filmmaker Patryk Vega directed a

crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

'' The Plagues of Breslau'', which is loosely based on a series of crime novels by Krajewski.

Novels

Eberhard Mock series

* ''Death in Breslau'' (Śmierć w Breslau), 1999, . English edition: MacLehose Press/Quercus, London 2008; Melville House, New York, 2012, * ''The End of the World in Breslau'' (Koniec świata w Breslau), 2003. English edition: MacLehose Press/Quercus, London 2009; Melville House, New York, 2013, * ''Phantoms in Breslau'' (Widma w mieście Breslau), 2005. English edition: MacLehose Press/Quercus, London 2010. * ''Fortress Breslau'' (Festung Breslau), 2006 * ''Plague in Breslau'' (Dżuma w Breslau), 2007 * ''The Minotaur's Head'' (Głowa Minotaura), 2009. English edition: MacLehose Press/Quercus, London 2012. * ''Mock'', 2016 * ''The Human Zoo'' (Ludzkie zoo), 2017 * ''The Duel'' (Pojedynek), 2018 * ''Golem'', 2019 * ''Moloch'', 2020

Jarosław Pater series

* ''Suicide Avenue'' (Aleja samobójców), 2008 * ''Cemetery Roses'' (Róże cmentarne), 2009

Edward Popielski series

* ''The Minotaur's Head'' (Głowa Minotaura), 2009. English edition: MacLehose Press/Quercus, London 2012. * ''Erinyes'' (Erynie), 2010 * ''Charon's Numbers'' (Liczby Charona) 2011 * ''The Rivers of Hades'' (Rzeki Hadesu) 2012 * ''In the Depths of Darkness'' (W otchłani mroku), 2013 * ''The Lord of the Numbers'' (Władca liczb), 2014 * ''The Arena of Rats'' (Arena szczurów), 2015 * ''The Girl with Four Fingers'' (Dziewczyna o czterech palcach), 2019 * ''The Executioner's Assistant'' (Pomocnik kata), 2020

Other

* ''The Dead Have a Voice'' (Umarli mają głos), co-written with Jerzy Kawecki, 2015

References

External links

Marek Krajewski webpage (in Polish)

W otchłani mroku / In the Depths of Darkness
- review {{DEFAULTSORT:Krajewski, Marek Polish crime writers Polish crime fiction writers 1966 births Living people Writers of historical mysteries 20th-century Polish writers 21st-century Polish writers 20th-century Polish male writers People from Wrocław