NAHACZ Mirosław

Bron on 9 September 1984 in Gorlice; son of the electrician Roman Nahacz (who died in 1996), and the history teacher Helena, née Barna, who is of Lemko origin. He spent his childhood in Gładyszów in the Low Beskid mountains. He attended the M. Kromer Grammar School No. I in Gorlice from 1999. During this period he was involved in the Magurycz Informal Group of Stone Masons (Nieformalna Grupa Kamieniarzy "Magurycz"), which took care of old Lemko cemeteries and churches. During this period he met Anna Klawe, with whom he was in a relationship until the end of his life. In 2001, he travelled alone to Ukraine, tracing the footsteps of Bruno Schulz. He returned to the country on several occasions in subsequent years. In 2003, while still in his final year of school, he made his debut with the novel Osiem cztery (Eight Four), which attracted the interest of Andrzej Stasiuk, who lived in the nearby village of Wołowiec and published it through his Czarne pubilshing house. That year Nahacz received the Natalia Gall and Ryszard Pollak Literary Foundation prize. After completing advanced secondary education in 2003, he took a degree in cultural studies at the University of Warsaw (UW). At the same time, he continued to write works of literature. He was a columnist with the monthly "Filipinka" (2004) and a reviewer for the cultural monthly "Lampa" (2004/05) and the daily "Panorama". He co-wrote scripts for television series while also conducting numerous events as an author. He spent a short time working as a barman. In 2005, he was included in the group of younger writers who appeared at the Polococktail festival of Polish literature in Berlin, which was part of the Polish Year in Germany. With support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he remained in the city as a fellow of Literarisches Colloquium. The following year he was awarded a three-month Homines Urbani fellowship from the Polish Book Institute and the Villa Decius Association in Krakow. In spring 2007, he was a fellow of Stiftung Genshagen, a German foundation promoting European integration. In late 2006 and early 2007 he travelled around India. In the final stages of his life, he was working on the novel Niezwykłe przygody Roberta Robura (The Extraordinary Adventures of Robert Robur). He committed suicide on 24 July 2007 in Warsaw. He is buried at parish cemetery of the Orthodox Church in Leszczyny near Gorlice.