Jacek Józef Dukaj (pronounced: ; born 30 July 1974) is a Polish

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

writer. His fiction explores such themes as

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

, alternative

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

human nature Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, the relationship between

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and power,

technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable consequences for human civilization. According to the ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

, and

transhumanism Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the human enhancement, enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available new and future technologies that can greatly enhance longevity, cogni ...

. He is regarded among the most popular Polish contemporary science fiction authors. He is the recipient of numerous national and international

literary prize A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Man ...

s including the

European Union Prize for Literature The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature among ...

, Janusz A. Zajdel Award and European Science Fiction Award.

Career

He was born on 30 July 1974 in

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

. He graduated from High School No. 3 in Tarnów and subsequently studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

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 made his literary debut at the age of 16 when he published his short story "" ("The Golden Galley") in the '' Fantastyka'' science-fiction monthly. In 1997, he published his first novel '' Xavras Wyżryn''. His texts and short stories were featured in such science fiction and fantasy magazines as ''Nowa Fantastyka'', ', , '' Fenix'', ''

Science Fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

'' and '.'' His short stories have been translated into English, German, Russian,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, Slovak, Macedonian, Italian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Ukrainian and Bosnian. His first story, "The Golden Galley", was translated into English by Wiesiek Powaga and published in '' The Dedalus Book of Polish Fantasy'' (1996).

Michael Kandel Michael Kandel (born 24 December 1941, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American translator and author of science fiction. Biography Kandel received a doctorate in Slavistics from Indiana University. His most recent position was editor at the ...

's translation of "" has been published in '' A Polish Book of Monsters'' (2010) and his translation of fragments of into English is available online. ''The Cathedral'' served as the basis for the 2002

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated science-fiction

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

of the same name directed by Tomasz Bagiński.'''' In 2007, he published one of the most successful of his novels entitled ''

Ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

'' for which he won the Janusz A. Zajdel Award,

and Kościelski Award. In 2009, he published '' Wroniec'' whose action takes place in the background of the 1981 martial law in Poland. Jacek Dukaj11

''The Apocrypha of Lem'', a mock-review in Lem's tradition, written as an afterword for reedition of Lem's '' A Perfect Vacuum'', was published in "Lemistry", translated by Danuta Stok. '' The Old Axolotl'' (2015) is the first book of Dukaj to be published in English. It was only published digitally, and uses devices that are typical in

electronic literature Electronic literature or digital literature is a genre of literature where digital capabilities such as interactivity, multimodality or Generative literature, algorithmic text generation are used aesthetically. Works of electronic literature ar ...

such as hypertextual links and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

components. ''The Old Axolotl'' tells the story of a neutron wave that destroys all life, however some humans have managed to upload themselves to robots and other devices. The novel inspired a 2020

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

-original Belgian TV series '' Into the Night''. In 2017, English language rights to ''

'' were acquired by London-based publisher Head of Zeus. The publication date will be announced once the novel is translated. As of 2021, Jacek Dukaj is also involved in business, being main shareholder and CEO of Nolensum company, founded to produce video games based on his stories and original ideas, as well as shareholder and member of Board of Directors of Bellwether Rocks, an investment fund with focus on gamedev industry and new technologies like tokenization, NFTs,

crypto Crypto commonly refers to: * Cryptography, the practice and study of hiding information * Cryptocurrency, a type of digital currency based on cryptography Crypto or krypto may also refer to: Cryptography * Cryptanalysis, the study of methods f ...

and similar. In 2023, he was awarded the European Science Fiction Award conferred by the European Science Fiction Society (ESFS) in the Best Author category.

Style and themes

His works frequently feature elements of

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

alternative history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

, and horror stories. He was an early representative of klerykal fiction, a subgenre of Polish fantasy and science fiction characterized by the use of religious themes, which remains one of the most distinctive features of Dukaj's novels. They were already present in ''The Golden Galley'', his literary debut. The author is also known for undertaking literary experiments manifesting themselves in the combination of elements of

with science fiction as is the case with ''The Iron General'' (2015). Dukaj has stated that creating a cohesive vision of the universe in a particular work is the basis of any good fantasy or science fiction book. Hence his books scrupulously describe the scientific aspects governing this universe and make use of elaborate scientific terminology. The realism in presenting the boundaries of human understanding might be inspired by the works of Stanisław Lem, which introduce the theme of the wear and tear of future inventions. The secret relationship between science and power is also explored in Dukaj's works, most notably in '' Black Oceans'' (2001), which is reminiscent of Lem's ''

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

'' (1968).

Bibliography

Novels

*'' Xavras Wyżryn'' (SuperNOWA, 1997, contains two short novels - ''Xavras Wyżryn'' and ''Zanim noc'') *'' Czarne oceany'' (Black Oceans) (SuperNOWA, 2001) *'' Extensa'' (Extensa) (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2002) *'' Inne pieśni'' (translated as Different Chants or Other Songs) (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2003) *'' Perfekcyjna niedoskonałość'' (An Ideal Imperfection) (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2004) *''

'' (''Lód'') (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2007) *'' Wroniec'' (The Crow) (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2009) *'' Starość aksolotla'' (The Old Axolotl) (Allegro, 2015) *' (Empire of Clouds) (SQN, 2018, titled ''Other Worlds''; WL, 2020, extended version); a 2019 winner of the Jerzy Żuławski Literary Award

Awards and nominations

* Śląkfa, Author of the Year: 2000, 2007, 2009 * Nautilus Award: 2003, 2004, 2007 * Angelus Award nomination: 2007 *

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 ...

nomination: 2007 * Kościelski Award: 2008, novel ''Ice'' *

: 2009, novel ''Ice'' *

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 ...

nomination: 2004, 2008, 2009 *

Jerzy Żuławski Jerzy Żuławski (; 14 July 1874 – 9 August 1915) was a Polish literary figure, philosopher, translator, Alpinism, alpinist and patriot whose best-known work is the science fiction, science-fiction epic, ''Trylogia Księżycowa'' (''The Lun ...

Prize: 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2019 * Janusz A. Zajdel Award: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010 *Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland: 11 December 2013 * European Science Fiction Award, 2023

Sources

Jacek Dukaj's Official Website in Polish

Jacek Dukaj's Official Website in English

Jacek Dukaj's company's website

References

External links

Excerpts from the novel Ice

Passages from The Cathedral

Passages from Iron General

Passages from Black Oceans

Passages from Other Songs

More about contemporary Polish fantasy and sci-fi

The Old Axolotl: Man without Body, Book without Paper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukaj, Jacek 1974 births Living people Polish science fiction writers Polish fantasy writers Polish alternate history writers People from Tarnów Recipients of the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis Polish electronic literature writers Janusz A. Zajdel Award winners Jagiellonian University alumni