BRATKOWSKI Piotr

Born on 11 April 1955 in Warsaw, son of the actor and director Jan Bratkowski, and the journalist Anna née Karczewska (her birth name was: Margita Heilpern; she changed it during the German occupation). He attended the Prince Józef Poniatowski Grammar School (no. V) in Warsaw, completing his advanced secondary education in 1973. He then took a degree in Polish philology at the University of Warsaw (UW). He made his debut in 1972 with some poems that he performed at Stara Prochownia Theatre as an interlude during Wojciech Siemion's one-man-play Jak to było naprawdę (How things really were). His debut text, an article on Andrzej Bursa (Opowiedzieć świat od początku – Telling the Story of the World from the Start), appeared in print in 1974 in the periodical "Kulisy" (no. 46). He co-founded the ephemeral poetry group Argo in 1974. It existed until 1975, when he joined the Moloch group of poets. He was awarded a master's degree in 1977 and subsequently studied philosophy at UW. His poems and articles appeared in periodicals including "Nowy Wyraz" (1976–77), "Literatura" (intermittently between 1977–89, including a series of articles on rock music titled Prywatna taśmoteka – Private tape collection), "Radar" (1982–84) and "Tygodnik Kulturalny" (1986–88). He collaborated with publications that were not approved by the state, including "Puls" (1978–79, using the pen name Agnieszka Lwowska), "Zapis" (1979, using the pen name Marek Mokotowski), "Wezwanie" (1982 and 1984, likewise as M. Mokotowski), "Tygodnik Mazowsze Solidarność" (1984 and 1986, as M. Mokotowski and Jan Marcinkowski), "bruLion" (1989), "Nowy Zapis" (anonymously) and "Kultura Niezależna" as a chronicler. In 1980 he was appointed chair of the Young Circle (Koło Młodych) at the Warsaw branch of the Polish Writers' Union (ZLP). At the same time, he was a member of the interdisciplinary artistic group Ruch Artystyczny „Świat”. He became a member of the Association of Polish Writers (SPP) in 1989, serving on its founding board. He initially served as deputy secretary before becoming deputy treasurer. Between 1990 and 1993, he was a councillor for the Żoliborz district of Warsaw, representing the party Solidarity Citizens' Committee (Komitet Obywatelski "Solidarność"). In 1990/91, he was a member of the Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action (Rada Krajowa Ruchu Obywatelskiego – ROAD). After the party's collapse, he became a member of the board of the Democratic Social Movement (Ruch Demokratyczno-Społeczny – RD-S), also acting as its press secretary in 1991/92. His poems, reviews and articles appeared during this period in periodicals including "Po prostu"
(1990) and "Krzywe Koło Literatury" (1991). In 1991 he was editor-in-chief of the bi-weekly magazine "Atak" (just two issues appeared), which was aimed at young readers. In 1992, he was secretary of the editorial board of "Obserwator Codzienny", which was published between February and May of that year. In 1992, he became a journalist with "Gazeta Wyborcza", serving for a period as deputy editor of the opinion pages before becoming editor of the books supplement. He published numerous articles and reviews both in the main newspaper and in the supplements "Gazeta o Książkach" (1993–95), "Książki" (1996–2002) and "Wysokie Obcasy" (1999–2002). Between 1997 and 2002, and again between 2014 and 2016, he was a member of the jury of the prestigious Nike Literary Prize. In 1992/93 he was an advisor to the chairman of Poland's Radio and Television Committee. Since 2002 (with a year-long break in 2005/06 when he was a columnist for the daily newspaper "Rzeczpospolita"), he has been associated with the weekly magazine "Newsweek", where he was head of the society section, while also writing columns on culture before becoming editor of the culture section in 2011. In 2004, he co-founded Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Kryminału i Powieści Sensacyjnej „Trup w szafie” (the Corpse in the Closet Association of Detective Stories and Thriller Enthusiasts), serving as a member of the jury of the association's Nagroda Wielkiego Kalibru (High Calibre Award for the Best Polish Crime Novel) until 2015. Writing for the periodical "Lampa", he contributed a regular column on music (Prywatna taśmoteka – Private tape collection) in 2004/05, while in 2005/06 he wrote about various subjects in the column Instytut Pamięci Osobistej (The Institute of Personal Memory). In 2010, he was awarded the Pikowy Laur prize, which was awarded by the Polish Chamber of Books (Polska Izba Książki – PIK) for the best publication promoting reading.
He married the journalist Marta, née Łataś, in 1989. He has two sons: Marek (b. 1982) and Marcin (b. 1991). He lives in Warsaw.