Janusz Andrzej Głowacki (13 September 1938 – 19 August 2017), better known as Janusz Głowacki or colloquially simply as Głowa, was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

ist and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Głowacki was the recipient of multiple awards and honours, including

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, two

Nike Award The Nike Literary Award ( pl, Nagroda Literacka „Nike") 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 f ...

nominations and

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

nomination. He was awarded the Gloria Artis Gold Medal in 2005 for his contribution to Polish culture, and in 2014, the Commander's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta , image=Polonia Restituta - Commander's Cross pre-1939 w rib.jpg , image_size=200px , caption=Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta , presenter = the President of Poland , country = , type=Five classes , eligibility=All , awar ...

Biography

Janusz Andrzej Głowacki was born into an

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

family on 13 September 1938 in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. He was the son of Helena Głowacka (née Helena Rudzka, d. 1991), a

literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews.

, sister of Polish

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to ...

, Kazimierz Rudzki; and Jerzy Głowacki, a

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, ...

novelist. Głowacki appeared in two plays produced by the Students' Satirical Theatre during his high school years and was interested in serious theater, which led to his enrollment to the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. He attended Academy, but by his own account had problems adjusting to the college, and dropped out. He later attended the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

, where he studied both

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and Polish philology and eventually earned a Master of Arts in the latter in 1961. He began his literary career by publishing his collections of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

depicting the cultural and social reality of the 1960s and 1970s in Poland, such as ''The Nonsense Spinner'' (1968) and ''The New La-ba-da Dance'' (1970). His works achieved great popularity and made him famous, thanks especially to his satirical portrayal of social phenomena in regularly published articles. He wrote the screenplay for

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of th ...

's '' Polowanie na muchy'' (1969) (''Hunting Flies'') and co-wrote the screenplay of the popular Polish movie '' Rejs'' (''The Cruise''), released in 1970. The 2001 film '' Mechanical Suite'' is based on his short story ''Brothers''. Głowacki co-wrote screenplay for '' Cold War'', which was selected to compete for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

2018 Cannes Film Festival The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett acted as President of the Jury. The Japanese film '' Shoplifters'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d'Or. Asghar Farhadi's psyc ...

. In 1981 he emigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in the wake of the imposition of martial law in Poland by its Communist government. There, he was nominated for the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play for ''Antigone in New York'' (1994). He was prominent in New York City society and the arts. Głowacki taught creative writing at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

and

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

. Additionally he worked as the visiting playwright at New York Public Theater,

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighbor ...

and

Atlantic Center for the Arts Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary artists’ community and arts education facility providing artists an opportunity to work and collaborate with contemporary artists in the fields of composing, visual, liter ...

. On August 19, 2017, Głowacki died unexpectedly during his holidays in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

Awards and honours

* 1982: ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' named ''Cinders'' the best play of the year * 1987: American Theatre Critics Association Award for ''Hunting Cockroaches'' * 1987: Joseph Kesselring Honorary Mention * 1987: John S. Guggenheim Award * 1987: Hollywood Drama League Critics Award * 1987: ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on M ...

'' named ''Hunting Cockroaches'' the best play of the year * 1988:

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

* 1993: ''Time Magazine'' named ''Antigone in New York'' one of the best plays of the year * 1994: Nomination for The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play for ''Antigone in New York'' * 1994: Jurzykowski Prize * 1997: Le Baladin Award, Paris * 1997: Students of Sorbonne Award, Paris * 1998: Critics Award for ''Antigone in New York'', staged in Proscenium Theatre in Paris * 1999: Tony Cox Award at Nantucket Film Festival * 2001: ''The Fourth Sister'' wins at International Theatre Festival in Dubrovnik * 2002: Grand Prix for the best author at "Rzeczywistość przedstawiona" Festival * 2002: Nomination for

* 2003: Grand Prix at Two Theatres Festival * 2005: Śląski Wawrzyn Literacki * 2005: Award of Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for literature * 2005: Nomination for

* 2011: Czesław Miłosz Award given by US Embassy in Warsaw * 2011: Warsaw Literary Award * 2013: Gustaw Award * 2013: Special Award "Diamond of Polish Radio Three" * 2013: Neptune Award - Gdańsk Literary Award *2013:

Jan Michalski Prize for Literature Jan Michalski Prize for Literature (French: Prix Jan Michalski) is a Swiss literary prize for any work of fiction or non-fiction published anywhere in the world in any language. It is meant to recognize authors from around the world and world lite ...

, finalist, ''Good Night, Dzerzi!'' *2018: Winner of European Film Award for Best Screenplay for Cold War (with Paweł Pawlikowski) *2019: Nomination for

BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Original Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1984, when the original category ( BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay) was split into two awards, the other being the ...

(with Paweł Pawlikowski)

References

External links

Glowacki's homepage

Janusz Głowacki's Alphabet

Janusz Głowacki
at Culture.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Glowacki, Janusz 1938 births 2017 deaths American male screenwriters Polish emigrants to the United States Writers from Poznań Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis International Writing Program alumni 20th-century Polish screenwriters Male screenwriters 20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Polish male writers 21st-century screenwriters 21st-century Polish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Polish male writers