Tomasz Jędrowski
Tomasz Jędrowski | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Language | English, Polish |
| Education | Cambridge University University of Paris |
| Period | Present |
| Genre | Gay literature |
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Tomasz Jędrowski (born 1985) is a Polish author.[1] His debut novel, Swimming in the Dark, was the subject of a "hotly contested publishing auction" and is a gay love story set in the closing years of the Polish People's Republic.[2]
Career[edit]
Jędrowski writes in English, which he attributed to English not having been "imposed on me. It’s not something that I happened to be born into. It's just something I enjoyed from the very start, and I don’t feel like it's my parents speaking through me when I'm writing in English, because we never spoke in English".[3] His debut novel Swimming in the Dark was the object of a six-way auction won by Bloomsbury for the UK and Commonwealth and William Morrow for North America, the latter part of a six-figure contract.[4] Publishers Weekly gave the novel a starred review and described the work as a "dazzling debut [that] charts an evocative sexual awakening and coming of age amid political unease in early 1980s Poland".[5]
Jędrowski cites Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin as a major influence in this writing, and Baldwin's novel plays a pivotal role in the novel, when the young protagonist Ludwik lends his copy to a stranger named Janusz. The two begin an intense sexual affair which plays out later in Warsaw in the 1980s during trade union agitation and a government crackdown.[6]
Many regions of Poland declared themselves LGBT-free zones in 2019[7], and Polish president Andrzej Duda commented that "LGBT ideology" is "even more destructive than Communism."[8] Jedrowski 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." But the novel is "also an homage and celebration of Polish culture, and the beauty of nature there."[9]
Bibliography[edit]
- Swimming in the Dark: A Novel, William Morrow, April 2020, ISBN 978-0062890009 Search this book on
..[10] Published simultaneously in a Polish translation by Robert Sudół as Płynąc w ciemnościach, OsnoVa, 2020.
References[edit]
- ↑ Nogaś, Michał. "Tomasz Jędrowski: Myślałem o sobie jako o dziecku z chorymi pragnieniami. Czułem, że jestem zepsuty". WysokieObcasy.pl. Wydawnictwo Agora. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Field, Marcus. "Book review: Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski". Evening Standard (13 February 2020). Evening Standard Ltd. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Juzwiak, Rich. "Swimming in the Dark Captures Love and Rebellion Among Men in 1980s Poland". Jezebel. G/O Media. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Friedman, Blake. "Tomasz Jedrowski's "Swimming In the Dark" Sold In a Six-Way Auction In UK and For a Six-Figure Deal In the US". BlakeFriendman.co.uk. Blake Friedmann Literary Agency Ltd. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Swimming in the Dark". Publishers Weekly. Publishers Weekly. 16 January 2020. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Bollen, Christopher (21 February 2020). "The Author Tomasz Jedrowski Keeps Coming Back to Giovanni's Room". Interview Magazine. Crystal Ball Media. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Noack, Rick. "Polish towns advocate 'LGBT-free' zones while the ruling party cheers them on". The Washington Post (21 July 2019). Nash Holdings. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ↑ "Gay "ideology" is worse than communism, says Poland's president". The Economist (20 June 2020). The Economist Newspaper Limited. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ↑ Harrison, Dane (15 July 2020). "This coming of age novel explores what it means to be queer in Poland". Vice. Vice Media Group. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ↑ "April 2020 Releases". Publishers Marketplace. PublishersLunch. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
External links[edit]
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