Półka literacka 2021
Literary Bookshelf 2021

Summary/Abstract: This sketch presents the most interesting and critically appreciated Polish fiction and poetry books published in 2021. Agnieszka Nęcka-Czapska’s aim is to give a summary of what happened on the Polish publishing market in the past year. She addresses the question concerning the shaping of bestseller lists and whether the coronavirus pandemic affected fiction writers, poets and publishers by making itself present in literary productions. Her goal has been to examine what type of literature was most often published and which authors attracted the greatest interest among reviewers. A brief analysis and interpretation of ten selected books of prose fiction and poetry shows, moreover, how other commentators on contemporary literary life have written about them. The choice of texts was therefore based not on Nęcka-Czapska’s subjective feelings about them, but rather on their reception. Another goal of this sketch has been to present the diversity of publications and to draw attention to the most popular creative tendencies. Among the fiction writers and poets mentioned here are: Łukasz Barys, Wioletta Grzegorzewska, Jakub Kornhauser, Joanna Mueller, Daniel Odija, Kira Pietrek, Maciej Płaza, Andrzej Stasiuk, Antonina Tosiek, and Bohdan Zadura, i.e., mostly authors well known to the Polish reading audience, among them those who published new books after several years of silence. The list shows that particular recognition among readers (also the “professional” ones) was accorded to works whose authors tried to heal damaged identities, returned to the traumatic past trying to organize the “here and now”, and addressed communication problems. Readers also appreciated stories that can be described as socially engaged. The sketch falls within the areas of literary studies and literary criticism.

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