Tomasz Jedrowski | |
---|---|
Occupation | Writer |
Nationality | Polish |
Education |
Cambridge University,
Université de Paris |
Tomasz Jędrowski is a Polish writer born in the Federal Republic of Germany. [1]
His 2020 literary debut, Swimming in the Dark, published in the Polish language as Płynąc w ciemnościach, is a gay love story set in the final years of the Polish People's Republic. It was subject to a "hotly contested" six-way publishing auction, [2] from which Bloomsbury gained rights. Swimming in the Dark has been praised for the quality of its writing [3] [4] and its treatment of LGBTQ themes. [5] It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, [6] and was longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown. [7]
Jędrowski was born in Germany, educated in England, and subsequently lived in France. [8] He speaks Polish, English, French, German and Spanish. He typically writes in English. Jędrowski identifies as gay. [9] His parents' accounts of the final years of the Polish People's Republic informed the novel. [10]
Jędrowski cites the expulsion of Michel Foucault from Poland in 1958 as a formative event. [11] He commented that "there's a lot of anxiety being channeled into this topic [LGBT rights in Poland], a lot of fear-mongering and propaganda" but that Swimming In the Dark is not only about homophobia, against which he writes "to revive, to resuscitate, the queerness that had been silenced". [12] The novel is also, he said, "an homage and celebration of Polish culture, and the beauty of nature there". [12]
Tomasz Jedrowski | |
---|---|
Occupation | Writer |
Nationality | Polish |
Education |
Cambridge University,
Université de Paris |
Tomasz Jędrowski is a Polish writer born in the Federal Republic of Germany. [1]
His 2020 literary debut, Swimming in the Dark, published in the Polish language as Płynąc w ciemnościach, is a gay love story set in the final years of the Polish People's Republic. It was subject to a "hotly contested" six-way publishing auction, [2] from which Bloomsbury gained rights. Swimming in the Dark has been praised for the quality of its writing [3] [4] and its treatment of LGBTQ themes. [5] It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, [6] and was longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown. [7]
Jędrowski was born in Germany, educated in England, and subsequently lived in France. [8] He speaks Polish, English, French, German and Spanish. He typically writes in English. Jędrowski identifies as gay. [9] His parents' accounts of the final years of the Polish People's Republic informed the novel. [10]
Jędrowski cites the expulsion of Michel Foucault from Poland in 1958 as a formative event. [11] He commented that "there's a lot of anxiety being channeled into this topic [LGBT rights in Poland], a lot of fear-mongering and propaganda" but that Swimming In the Dark is not only about homophobia, against which he writes "to revive, to resuscitate, the queerness that had been silenced". [12] The novel is also, he said, "an homage and celebration of Polish culture, and the beauty of nature there". [12]