DUNIN Kinga

Born on 25 April 1954 in Lodz; daughter of the Polish studies scholar, library expert, professor of the University of Lodz Janusz Dunin-Horkawicz and the Polish studies scholar and library expert Cecylia, née Jastrzębska. She attended primary school in Lodz and went on to the city's E. Szczaniecka Grammar School (No. 4) in 1969. After completing advanced secondary education, she started studying sociology at the University of Lodz in 1973, graduating with a master's degree in 1977. She was active in the democratic opposition to communist rule in Poland. In 1977, she began collaborating with the Workers' Defence Committee (KOR) and the independent publishing house Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza. She was involved in distributing and selling independent press publications and books. She consequently suffered repression by the Polish security services. She was also involved in organizing the underground, opposition-linked Flying University (Uniwersytet Latający) and Solidarity's Student Committee (Studencki Komitet Solidarności – SKS), likewise participating in both organizations' meetings. She moved to Warsaw in the early 1980s. She married the opposition activist, sociologist and journalist Sergiusz Kowalski, divorcing in 1994. Following the imposition of martial law on 13 December 1981, she was interned together with her husband, while her five-month-old son, Stanisław Dunin-Horkawicz, was placed in a children's home. She was released soon afterwards. Between 1984 and 2012 she gave seminars and lectures in the sociology of medicine at the Institute of Public Medicine at Warsaw Medical Academy (later Warsaw Medical University). She became involved in the feminist movement after 1989. Dunin made her debut in 1991 with articles addressing public discourse in Poland. Her texts appeared in a volume that she co-edited, Cudze problemy (Others' Problems). She published numerous essays, reviews and short notes in "Ex Libris", the literary supplement of the daily newspaper "Życie Warszawy” (1992-96). It was here that she published, among other things, Literatura polska czy literatura w Polsce (Polish literature or literature in Poland; 1994, no. 48), which inspired significant debate over the state of Polish literature. She also wrote a regular column, Noty Knoty (as a rough translation: "Top of the Flops"), which provided information on new books (under the by-line: KiD, kid). Her literary and social texts, reviews and columns have also appeared in "Dialog" (1994, 1997, 2009, 2015, and 2017), "Twórczość" (1994 and 1998), the monthly "Twój Styl" (1995-96; including the regular column Przekornie o książkach [A contrary take on books]), the Poznan-based "Kurier Czytelniczy. Megaron” (1997-2000; including a continuation of the column Noty Knoty), "FA-art" (1998-2000), "Nowe Książki" (1999-2004), the women-focused "Wysokie Obcasy" supplement to "Gazeta Wyborcza" (1999-2011; including the regular column W tenisówkach [In sports shoes]), the Krakow-based feminist quarterly "Zadra" (since 1999), "Res Publica Nowa" (2001-2007; including the regular column Z drugiej ręki [Second-hand]), "Krytyka Polityczna" (since 2002), "Gazeta Wyborcza" (since 2005), "Rzeczpospolita" (since 2005), and "Teksty Drugie" (2016). She was a member of the jury at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia in 2000. In 2003, she became a member of the editorial board of "Krytyka Polityczna" and has remained active in the left-leaning milieu associated with the quarterly. The same year she became a co-founder of the Zieloni 2004 party, serving for a certain period on this Polish Green party's Collegial Court. Likewise in 2003 she was awarded the Glasses of Equality prize (Okulary Równości) by the Polish Government's Commissioner for Male and Female Equality. Dunin was rewarded for "her struggle against harmful stereotypes over many years". In 2004, she was awarded a doctoral degree from the Adam Mickiewicz University (UAM) in Poznan after defending her dissertation Czytając Polskę. Literatura po roku 1989 wobec dylematów nowoczesności (Reading Poland: Literature after 1989 and the dilemmas of modernity). She was supervised by Prof. Przemysław Czapliński. She collaborated with Polish Television (TVP): between 2001 and 2004 she hosted Dobre Książki (Good Books) alongside Tomasz Łubieński and Witold Bereś, on TVP1. The show discussed new books and was transferred to TVP Kultura in 2005 and renamed Lepsze Książki (Better Books). It continued until 2007 with other critics involved, including Sławomir Sierakowski and Cezary Michalski. In 2005, she became a member of the board of the S. Brzozowski Association (Stowarzyszenie im. S. Brzozowskiego). In 2008 and 2009 she served on the jury of the prestigious Nike Literary Prize. She taught at the Institute of Advanced Studies (Instytut Studiów Zaawansowanych), which was associated with "Krytyka Polityczna", and she has also published columns with the online portal "Dziennik Opinii" since 2013. She lives in Warsaw.