The Janusz A. Zajdel Award (''Nagroda imienia Janusza A. Zajdla''), often called just Zajdel, is the annual award given by the 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, ...

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...

for the best stories published in the previous year. It was established in 1984. It is the most prestigious of several Polish awards for that genre of literature.

History

Previously the Polish Union of Fans of Science Fiction (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Fantastyki) issued the for works of science fiction (1983-1986). The Zajdel award was created in 1984 (to be awarded from 1985) under the name ''Sfinks'' (not to be confused with the , an award of the magazine). After the death of the first winner, Janusz A. Zajdel, in 1985, the name was changed in his memory. Zajdel's widow, Jadwiga Zajdel, has presented the award to the winners since then. Until 1989, the award was given by Polish

science fiction fan Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

associations, voting as units; since 1990, all fans present at Polcon convention can vote. Since 1991 the system has been based on two-tier ballot, compared to the system used in the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

. Until 1991, there was a single award given for the best story; since 1992, there are two categories: novel and short story. The statuette given to the winners since 1991 was designed by sculptor Wiesław Bielak, professor at the

Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public higher education, institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Polish fine art academy, established in 1 ...

. In 2000, several stories by Zajdel winners were translated to English in the ''Anthology: Chosen by Fate: Zajdel Award Winners''. That volume contained the translations of

Ewa Białołęcka Ewa Białołęcka (born 14 December 1967 in Elbląg) is a Polish fantasy writer. She currently lives in Gdańsk. Her literary debut was her short story ''Wariatka'' (Madwoman), published in 1993. Since then she has written more than a dozen short ...

's "Jestem Lamia", Anna Brzezińska's ('98 winner), Marek S. Huberath's "Kocia obecność",

Tomasz Kołodziejczak Tomasz Kołodziejczak (born 13 October 1967) is a Polish science fiction and fantasy writer, screenwriter, publisher and editor of books, comics and role-playing games. He made his debut in 1985 with the short story ''Kukiełki'' (''Rag Dolls'') i ...

's ' (excerpts from the novel; '96 winner), Feliks W. Kres's "Korona Shergardów", Andrzej Sapkowski's and Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz's "Dobra wróżka". In 2014, a free online e-book of the stories nominated for year 2013 was made available.

Winners

The year given is the year of publication. Since 1992, novels and short stories have been judged separately. The winners of the award are:

Winner summaries

2019: Radek Rak, ''Baśń o wężowym sercu...''

The novel is loosely based on the legends about

Jakub Szela Jakub Szela (was born 14 July 1787, Smarżowa, in Galicia - died 21 April 1860, Dealul Ederii, in Bukovina, now Romania) was a Polish leader of a peasant uprising against the Polish gentry in Galicia in 1846; directed against manorial property ...

, the leader of a 1846 peasant uprising known as the Galician slaughter. It gained several other literary awards.

2019: Marta Potocka, "Chomik"

Marta Potocka is a young writer, with several short stories. She works as a programmer. Her winning work "Chomik" Hamster"was published in the

e-zine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...

', no. 5, 2019. The story is set in the near future Poland. The heavily criticized Social Insurance Institution is closed and the basic

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

payment is introduced to everybody subject to the condition that to qualify for it the person must join the program of Social Monitoring. The Social Insurance Institution is replaced with the Social Balance Institution, whose function is to control that people spend as much money as possible. Those who do not want to spend are called "

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...

s", i.e., " hoarders". An employee of SII tries to handle a particularly tough "hamster" and fails, but instead uncovers a much larger problem. Radek Rak i Marta Potocka laureatami Nagrody im. Janusza A. Zajdla za 2019 rok
/ref> ''Chomik'' is available online.
/ref>

References

External links

The Award homepage
(in Polish)
Janusz A. Zajdel Award Winners
at

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{{science fiction Polish science fiction awards Polish literary awards Awards established in 1985 1985 establishments in Poland