BIO
Born on 17 August 1958 in Cieszyn; son of the bookkeeper Alojzy Machej and the PSS Społem (grocery store cooperative) employee Zofia, née Łabudek. He attended the Nicolaus Copernicus Grammar School (No. II) in Cieszyn, completing his advanced secondary education there in 1977. He then studied Polish philology at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) in Krakow. From 1977 he was an author and distributor for the independent publishing movement in Krakow. In 1980 he co-founded the Independent Students' Association (NZS) at UJ. He made his debut the same year with the poems Nikt nigdy nie odkryje Ameryki (No one will ever discover America) and Noe dziś wieczorem (Noe this evening), which were published in the Catholic weekly "Tygodnik Powszechny" (no. 21). In 1982, he passed his master's exam in Polish philology and started a degree in religious studies at UJ, graduating with a master's degree in the subject in 1987. Between 1987 and 1991, he worked as a teacher at the Nicolaus Copernicus Grammar School (No. II) in Cieszyn. He continued to produce literary and journalistic texts, with his poems, prose pieces, translations and reviews appearing in periodicals published outside the reach of state censorship before 1989, namely "Puls" (London, 1984, 1988, 1991, and 1993), "Arka" (1986 and 1988-89), "Kurs" (1987), "BruLion" (1988-1995; including reviews published under the pseudonym Tomasz Ożana), and "Gąbka" (1989). He also collaborated with the spoken-word magazine "NaGłos". In 1988, he won the "Arka" Prize in recognition of his writing as the most significant literary debut of recent years. In 1988, he was active in the Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity (Solidarność Polsko-Czesko-Słowacka) organization. In 1989/90, he was co-founder of and active in the Citizens' Committee (Komitet Obywatelski), an opposition organization, in Cieszyn. In the late 1980s he was also active as a translator, making his debut in 1988 with Polish versions of Ezra Pound's poems that were published in "Znak" (no. 7). His first translations of Czech literature were Polish versions of Ivan Blatný's poems that appeared in 1994 in "Literatura na Świecie" (no. 9). Between 1989 and 1990, he also worked as a journalist for "Gazeta Prowincjonalna", before serving as secretary of the editorial board of "Głos Ziemi Cieszyńskiej" until 1991. In 1991, he received the Stanisław Wyspiański Artistic Prize for Youth. Between 1991 and 1996, he was deputy director of the Polish Information and Cultural Centre of the Polish Institute in Prague. He was responsible for initiating the publication of translations of Czech authors into Polish and vice versa. He collaborated with the Prague Writers' Festival. In 1993, he travelled with Wisława Szymborska from Krakow to Prague, a journey that inspired the creation of several jointly-authored limericks, some of which were published in "NaGłos" (no. 12, 1993 and no. 24, 1996). His poems, translations and articles appeared during this period in publications including "Nowy Nurt" (1990-96), "Zwrot" (1990-91), "Odra" (1991, 1996, and 1999), "Krasnogruda" (1993, 1996, 1998, and 2000-01), "Kresy" (1994, 1996, and 1999), "Fraza" (1996), "Literatura na Świecie" (1994-2001), "Res Publika Nowa" (2002, 2004-05, and 2007), and "Twórczość" (2005-06). He also worked as a translator of Czech for the "Europa" supplement of the daily newspaper "Dziennik", while also contributing as a reviewer and satirist to the theatre monthly "Foyer" and as an author of children's poems to the magazine "Czarodziejska Kura". He joined the Polish PEN Club in 1994. In 1996, he collaborated with the organizers of the of Port Legnica Literary Festival, before working with the Wroclaw-based publishing house Biuro Literackie until 2008. Between February and June 1997, he taught at the Institute of Art at the University of Silesia's Cieszyn branch before taking up a post as a programme advisor at the Programme Organization Office of the Krakow European Capital of Culture 2000 project between September and December 1998. Between 1999 and 2000, he served as director of Cieszyn Cultural Centre. From 2000 to 2004, he was first secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in the Czech Republic and deputy director of the Polish Institute in Prague. Between 2006 and 2010, he was director of the Polish Institute in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also collaborated with the Slovak-Hungarian publishing house Kalligram, where he promoted Polish literature and initiated the publication of translation. Between 2011 and 2014, he served as deputy director of the Bratislava-based International Visegrad Fund. In 1992, he married the artist and teacher Joanna Jędrusik. He has two children, a daughter, Alma (b. 1986) and a son, Klaudiusz (b. 1996). He lives in Bratislava and Cieszyn.
Twórczość
1. Smakosze, kochankowie i płatni mordercy. (Wiersze z lat 1978-1981). Warszawa: Czytelnik 1984, 75 s. Seria Poetycka.
2. Śpiąca muza. (Wiersze z lat 1982-1987). [Kraków:] Oficyna Literacka 1988, 47 s. Przedruk zob. poz. ↑.
3. Wiersze dla moich przyjaciół wybrane z lat 1978-1987. Kraków: „Miesięcznik Małopolska”* 1988, 24 s. Biblioteka „Miesięcznika Małopolska.”*.
4. Dwa zbiory wierszy. Londyn: Puls 1990, 88 s. Poezja, t. 4.
5. Telefon z antypodów. Wiersze z młodości w epoce minionej (1978-1990). Wyd. jako dokument elektroniczny: Wrocław: Biuro Literackie 2016, plik w formacie EPUB, MOBI.
6. Trzeci brzeg. [Wiersze]. Kraków: Oficyna Literacka 1992, 61 s.
7. Legendy praskiego metra. [Wiersze]. Poznań.: Wydawnictwo Obserwator 1996, 60 s. Biblioteka „Czasu Kultury”, t. 7.
8. Kraina wiecznych zer. [Wiersze]. Legnica: Biuro Literackie Port Legnica 2000, 71 s.
9. Prolegomena. Nieprzyjemne wiersze dla dorosłych. Legnica: Biuro Literackie Port Legnica 2003, 68 s. Port Legnica 2003, t. 4.
Nagrody
10. Nietubyć. [Wiersze]. Powst. 2005-10.
11. Wspomnienia z poezji nowoczesnej. [Wiersze]. Wrocław: Biuro Literackie 2005, 54 s. Więcej Poezji, t. 13.
12. Wiersze przeciwko opodatkowaniu poezji. Wrocław: Biuro Literackie 2007, 69 s. Więcej Poezji, t. 32.
Nagrody
Przekłady
słowacki
13. Przygody przyrody, czyli Swawole i niedole zwierząt w świecie ludzi i dalej. [Wiersze dla dzieci]. Wrocław: Biuro Literackie 2008, 53 s. Dziecinada..
14. Zima w małym mieście na granicy. Wiersze od Bożego Narodzenia 2004 do Wielkanocy 2005. [Drzeworyt:]. W. Szumiński. Sejny: Fundacja Pogranicze 2008, 157 s. Seria Poetycka Inicjał.
15. Mroczny przedmiot podążania. [Wiersze]. Wrocław: Biuro Literackie 2014, 320 s. Poezje, t. 106.
Nagrody
16. Antidotum noctis. [Proza]. Łódź: Dom Literatury; Stowarzyszenie Pisarzy Polskich, Oddział w Łodzi 2018, 249 s. Białe Kruki, Czarne Owce, t. 13.
17. 2020. [Wiersze]. Łódź: Dom Literatury w Łodzi 2021, 124 s. Szumy, Zlepy, Ciągi, t. 35.
Nagrody
18. [Mój rodak Tranoscius, mój sąsiad Hviezdoslav] Môj rodák Tranoscius, môj sused Hviezdoslav. [Esej]. [Fotografie:] P. Procházka. [Przeł. z polskiego na słowacki:] K. Chmel. Bratislava: Literárne informačné centrum 2021, 186 s.
19. Iskierka w tunelu. [Wiersze]. Katowice: Ars Cameralis Silesiae Superioris 2023, 110 s. Marzenia Herezje, t. 1.
20. Praga „in flagranti”. [Wspomnienia; Esej]. Sejny: Ośrodek „Pogranicze – sztuk, kultur, narodów” 2023, 388 s. Meridian.
Zawartość
21. Widokówki z niebytu. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademickie Sedno 2024, 370 s.
Zawartość
Wybory utworów literackich w przekładach
słowacki
Przekłady utworów literackich w antologiach zagranicznych
angielski
bułgarski
francuski
niemiecki
serbski
Przekłady
Nagrody
Inne formy wydań
Nagrody
Prace redakcyjne
Omówienia i recenzje
• Ankiety dla IBL PAN 2012, 2013, 2024.
