BIO
Born on 29 June 1953 in Warsaw; son of the lawyer Wacław Masłoń and the civil servant Alicja, née Świderska. He attended Grammar School No. XXX in Warsaw, where he completed his advanced secondary education in 1972. He then studied Polish philology, initially at the Bialystok branch of the University of Warsaw (UW) before moving to UW in the capital in 1975. He graduated with a master's degree in 1977. Already during his studies he was active as a journalist in the cultural section of the newspaper "Sztandar Młodych", publishing his first reviews there. In 1977, he received the prize of the Circle of Polish Philology Scholars of the Institute of Polish Philology at the University of Wroclaw (UWr) for literary criticism and poetry. His debut piece of literary criticism appeared in "Sztandar Młodych" in 1978 (no. 52). It was a discussion of Mieczysław Olbromski's novel Dyskoteka (Discotheque). He considers his proper debut as a literary critic to be a text written around the same time, namely a review of Piotr Wierzbicki's book Entuzjasta w szkole (An Enthusiast at School). He continued to publish reviews, articles, interviews and notes in "Sztandar Młodych" until 1981, with his texts also appearing in the weekly "Razem" (1979 and 1984-86; he conducted several interviews with rock musicians for this publication), the magazines "Świat Młodych" (1983) and "Perspektywy" (1984-85; where he reviewed new music albums), and the newspaper "Życie Warszawy" (1987-90; using the by-line (mas)). In 1990, he was employed as a regular contributor to the daily newspaper "Rzeczpospolita" and its supplements "Plus Minus" and "Rzeczpospolita i Książki" (serving for a time as editor of the latter), publishing numerous articles, interviews, and reviews of Polish and international literature there (also as (mas)). He also published two regular series of essays, Lektury kresowe (Borderland Readings) and Ta joj, in the newspaper's weekly supplement on Poland's former eastern borderlands (known as Kresy). He wrote numerous reviews and articles promoting and commenting on new books for "Książki. Magazyn Literacki" (1998-2007 and again from 2017). In 2000, he received the Icarus Prize of the Polish Publishers' Association (PTWK), while in 2005 he won the Pikowy Laur prize, which was awarded by the Polish Chamber of Books (Polska Izba Książki – PIK) for the best publication promoting reading in print media. In 2006, he received the Prize of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (MKiDN). He joined the Association of Polish Writers (SPP) in 2005. He has served on the jury of many literary prizes: in 2010 he was first appointed to the chapter of the Goldfish Prize (Nagroda Złotej Ryby), organized by the M. Rybiński Foundation, while from 2006 to 2016 he was a member of the jury of the Angelus Central European Literary Award. He was appointed to the chapter of the Cyprian Kamil Norwid Prize in 2011, serving on the literary section, which he chaired in 2014. From 2014 to 2018 he was on the jury of the Identitas Prize, while from 2015 to 2020 he was a judge in the Warsaw Literary Prize. In 2017, he joined the jury of the Marek Nowakowski Prize. In 2011/12 he contributed to the weekly "Uważam Rze", including a regular review column in 2011 Książki kalekie (Lame Books), while in 2013 he started collaborating with the weekly "Do Rzeczy". In 2016, he started collaborating with Polish Radio 24, hosting a regular literary slot until March 2020. He then launched a weekly programme on books, "Poczytnik", alongside Tomasz Zapert. In 2019, he received the W. Hulewicz prize in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to literary criticism". He was awarded the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis in 2018. He lives in Skierdy, near Warsaw.
Twórczość
1. Lekcja historii najnowszej. [Szkice i wywiady]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie 2003, 292 s.
Zawartość
2. Miłość nie jest nam dana. [Wywiady i szkice]. Warszawa: Prószyński i S-ka 2005, 158 s.
Zawartość
3. Żydzi, Sowieci i my. [Szkice i wywiady]. Warszawa: Prószyński i S-ka 2005, 223 s.
Zawartość
4. Bananowy song. Moje lata 70. [Wspomnienia]. Warszawa: Świat Książki – Bertelsmann Media 2006, 222 s.
5. Nie uciec nam od losu. [Szkice i wywiady]. Warszawa: Prószyński i S-ka 2006, 222 s.
Zawartość
6. Puklerz Mohorta. Lektury kresowe. Poznań.: Zysk i S-ka 2014, 502 s.
Zawartość
7. Od glorii do infamii. Sylwetki dwudziestowiecznych pisarzy. Poznań: Zysk i S-ka 2015, 349 s.
Zawartość
8. W pisarskim czyśćcu. Sylwetki dwudziestowiecznych pisarzy. Poznań.: Zysk i S-ka 2017, 372 s.
Nagrody
9. Klątwa sprzeczności. Sylwetki dwudziestowiecznych pisarzy. Poznań: Zysk i S-ka Wydawnictwo 2023, 348 s.
Inne formy wydań
Zawartość
Prace redakcyjne
Omówienia i recenzje
• Ankieta dla IBL PAN 2020.
