MAJCHROWSKI Zbigniew

Born on 5 July 1955 in Sopot; son of the doctors Juliusz Majchrowski and Ewa, née Rosłan. He grew up in the Wrzeszcz district of Gdansk. He attended Grammar School No. 1 in Gdansk from 1969, completing his advanced secondary education there in 1973. That year he started a degree in Polish philology at the University of Gdansk (UG). He made his debut in February 1974 in the student magazine "Literraria", which was published by the Circle of Polish Studies Scholars at the Institute of Polish Philology (IFP) at UG. It printed his 1970 text Taki pejzaż… Szkic do reportażu (What a Landscape... A sketch for a reportage) and his poems Wyznanie (Confession) and Ikar (Icarus), both of which he wrote in 1973, with the latter having won a prize at the Sixteenth Lodz Spring of Poetry (XVI Łódzka Wiosna Poetów) competition. He made his debut as a literary critic in 1975 with a review of Kazimierz Nowosielski's volume of poetry Miejsce na brzegu (A place at the edge). His review was published in "Dziennik Bałtycki" (no. 218). He participated in the meetings of the Wspólność (Community) Situational Group of Poets and Artists between 1976 and 1979. In 1976/77, he was a member of the editorial board of "Litteraria", a periodical that was lossely associated with the group. In 1977 he was awarded a master's degree for his dissertation „Białe małżeństwo” Tadeusza Różewicza wobec systemu literatury polskiej (Tadeusz's Różewicz's White Marriage in the context of the system of Polish literature), which was supervised by Prof. Maria Janion. He was then appointed assistant at the Department of Literary Theory at the Institute of Polish Philology at UG. His research focused on the literary and cultural history of the Romantic period and the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, in particular the history of poetry, drama and theatre. He later explored phenomena located at the boundary of the arts and anthropology. His articles, literary reviews and theatre reviews appeared in periodicals including "Poezja" (1976 and 1978), "Teksty" (1977) and "Dialog" (intermittently from 1977). It was in the latter journal that he made his debut as a theatre critic with the article Świadectwo widza jako wyzwanie rzucone nauce o teatrze (Spectators' testimonies as a challenge facing theatre studies; no. 6). He was a member of the editorial team of the publication series Transgresje (Transgressions), which emerged from the seminars that Prof. Maria Janion held in 1977/78 at UG. The team received the collective Wiatr od Morza (Sea Breeze) prize from the Żak Student Club in Gdansk. He was awarded a doctoral degree in 1986 for his thesis Dramat poety w twórczości Tadeusza Różewicza (The Drama of the Poet in the works of Tadeusz Różewicz), which was supervised by prof. Maria Janion. He was then appointed lecturer at the Department of Drama, Theatre and Film at IFP at UG. In 1987, he received the early career scholar prize from the Gdansk Scientific Society, which he joined the following year. He became a member of the Polish Writers' Association (SPP) in 1991. He remained active as a critic, with his articles and theatre reviews appearing in publications including "Gazeta Gdańska" (1991 – as the newspaper's regular theatre reviewer), "Tytuł" (intermittently 1991-1997, also as Z.M.; between 1991 and 1995 he was on the quarterly's editorial board), "Teatr" (intermittently from 1992; member of its Programme Council), "Twórczość" (1997-98), "Odra" (2000, 2002 and 2011), "Tygodnik Powszechny" (2004-05 and 2016), "Teksty Drugie" (2006), and "Didaskalia" (2016). He began collaborating with the Polish Shakespeare Association in 1995. He was awarded a habilitation degree from UG in 1999 for his study Cela Konrada. Powracając do Mickiewicza (Konrad's Cell: Returning to Mickiewicz). He became editor of the series Terytoria Teatru (Theatre Territories), which is published by the publishing house wydawnictwo słowo/obraz terytoria. During this period he was also involved in editing Polish literature textbooks for grammar schools and technical schools. In 2002, he was appointed associated professor at the Department of Contemporary Literature at IFP at UG. Between 2005 and 2007, he was deputy director of academic affairs at IFP at UG. Between 2006 and 2010, he was head of the Department of Literary Anthropology and Art Criticism, which he himself founded at IFT at UG. He then worked at the Chair of Literary Theory and Art Criticism, where he is currently full professor. In 2007, he was made state appointed professor. He was appointed to the Committee on Literary Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (KNoL) the same year. In 2015, he was head of the jury of the first Strefa Kontaktu (Contact Zone) Drama Prize, which was launched by the Współczesny Theatre in Wroclaw and the City of Wroclaw. He was awarded the Commission of National Education Medal. He married the Polish language teacher Joanna Założyk in 1983. He has two daughters, Małgorzata (b. 1985) and Katarzyna (b. 1986). He lives in Gdansk.