Maciej Parowski (27 December 1946, in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

– 2 June 2019, in Warsaw) was a Polish

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

essayist 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 an ...

, science fiction

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

, editor and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

. He has been called "a legend of the Polish science fiction and fantasy scene".

Life and career

He was born on 27 December 1946 in Warsaw. He worked as a critic of

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univer ...

, chief editor of ''

Nowa Fantastyka ''Fantastyka'' (est 1982, in 1990 renamed ''Nowa Fantastyka'') is a Polish speculative fiction monthly fantasy and science fiction magazine. History ''Fantastyka'' was established in 1982 by sci-fi fans Andrzej Krzepkowski, Jacek Rodek and , u ...

'' from 1992–2003, and editor of several science-fiction series and anthologies. Chief editor of ''Czas Fantastyki''. Author of several science-fiction stories and a book, from the

social science-fiction Social science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, usually (but not necessarily) soft science fiction, concerned less with technology/space opera and more with speculation about society. In other words, it "absorbs and discusses anthropolo ...

genre, most of his fiction works are from 1970s and 1980s. In the late 1990s he was involved in a major discussion in Polish science-fiction literature, revolving around the

Janusz A. Zajdel Award The Janusz A. Zajdel Award (''Nagroda imienia Janusza A. Zajdla''), often called just Zajdel, is the annual award given by the Polish science fiction and fantasy fandom for the best stories published in the previous year. The winners are chose ...

and the distinction between "serious" and "pop" sci-fi. Editor and supporter of several

Polish comics Polish comics are comics written and produced in Poland. Very few of these comics have been published in languages other than Polish. History One of the first and most famous Polish comics was '' Koziołek Matołek'' (Matołek the Billy-Goat), c ...

. He has been credited with popularizing ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' franchise in Poland. In 2006 he received an award for support of Polish comics, the Humoris Causa. In 2007, he received silver medal for cultural achievements

Gloria Artis Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins ...

from Polish Minister of Culture, and in 2010 – Mackiewicz Prize (second place) for novel "Burza".

Works

Books

* ''Bez dubbingu'' (collection of essays, Młodzieżowa Agencja Wydawnicza 1978) * ''Twarzą ku ziemi'' (novel, Czytelnik 1982) * ''Sposób na kobiety'' (anthology of short stories, KAW 1985) * ''Czas fantastyki'' (essays, interviews, reviews; Glob 1990) * ''Burza. Ucieczka z Warszawy '40'' (novel; Narodowe Centrum Kultury 2009) * ''Małpy Pana Boga. Słowa'' (essays, interviews, reviews; Narodowe Centrum Kultury 2011)

Comics

* ''

Funky Koval ''Funky Koval'' is a Polish science fiction/ detective story/ political fiction genre comic book series published in Poland from the 1980s, collected in four volumes. The story was written by and Maciej Parowski, with art drawn by Bogusław ...

'' (1987–1992, 2010), with

Bogusław Polch Bogusław Polch act. Połch (5 October 1941 – 2 January 2020) was a Polish comic book artist. His most notable works include the series ''The Gods from Outer Space'' (based on Erich von Däniken books, written by Arnold Mostowicz and Alfred Gór ...

* ''

Wiedźmin ''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are b ...

'' (''

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are b ...

'', 1993–1995), with

Andrzej Sapkowski Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books ''The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hunte ...

and

References

*
Fantastyka pisarze: Maciej Parowski – o autorze
1946 births 2019 deaths Polish speculative fiction critics Polish speculative fiction editors French editors Polish literary critics Polish essayists Polish male writers Male essayists Polish science fiction writers Science fiction critics Science fiction editors Recipients of the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis {{poland-writer-stub

Life and career

Works

Books

Comics

See also

References