RUSINEK Michał Maciej

Born on 31 January 1972 in Krakow; son of the sociologist Andrzej Rusinek and the Russian philologist Elżbieta, née Dydyszko. He attended the Adam Mickiewicz Grammar School No. VI in Krakow. In 1991, he was a winner in the Twenty-First edition of the Olympiad of Polish Literature and Language. The same year, he completed his advanced secondary education and started a degree in Polish philology at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) in Krakow. He made his debut in 1992 with the article „Gaude, mater Polonia” – między hymnem nieszpornym a uroczystą pieśnią Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego ["Gaude mater Polonia": Between a vesper hymn and the festive song of the Jagiellonian University], which appeared in "Universitas", the journal of employees of UJ (no. 3). He made his debut in 1995 with a translation of Andrew Ross's 1990 article Hacking Away at the Counterculture, which appeared in Polish translation as Jak wyhaczyć kontrkulturę in the periodical "bruLion" (no. 1). After graduating with a master's degree in 1996, he studied for doctoral degree in rhetoric at UJ until 2001. From 1996 to 2010, he ran workshops as part of the Postgraduate Programme in Rhetoric at UJ, serving as programme director between 2005 and 2007. In 1997, he started giving seminars (and later lectures) in literary theory and poetics for students of Polish, Classical, Oriental and Romance philology at UJ. His articles, reviews and translations appeared in journals including "Dekada Literacka" (1995), "Zeszyty Prasoznawcze" (1995), "Teksty Drugie" (1997 and 2000-02), and "Zeszyty Literackie" (1999, 2001, and 2004-05). In 1996, following a recommendation from Prof. Teresa Walas, the supervisor of his master's thesis, he was appointed secretary to Wisława Szymborska. He was the co-founder alongside Magda Heydel and Ewa Mrowczyk of the Society of Admirers of Teresa Walas, a humorous association established in 1997. He published his debut poem, Limeryk (Limerick), in the weekly "Przekrój" in 2001 (no. 46). He was a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Ghent and Leuven in Belgium in 2000, giving talks on contemporary Polish prose. He discussed contemporary Polish poetry in courses for US-American participants as part of the Poetry Summer School in Krakow in 2002. He was awarded a doctoral degree in 2002 for his dissertation Między klasyczną retoryką a ponowoczesną retorycznością (Between Classical rhetoric and postmodern rhetoricism). He was supervised by Prof. Teresa Walas. The same year, he took up a position as a research assistant at the Chair of Literary Theory at the Faculty of Polish Studies at UJ before being appointed lecturer in 2003. He was awarded the UJ Rector's Prize in 2006 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in research and teaching. He also taught at the Tischner European University, giving lectures and workshops between 2003 and 2006, as well as on the Postgraduate Programme in Literary and Artistic Studies at UJ, where he gave poetry and translation workshops, the latter focusing on artistic translations, in 2010/11. Between 2005 and 2021, he was a member of the Living Word Commission at the Council for the Polish Language of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). In parallel to his research, he pursued writing and translation. He authored volumes of poetry, short stories and popular-scientific works for children and young readers that were illustrated by, among others, his sister Joanna Rusinek. He translated contemporary English-language literature and classic works aimed at younger readers, as well as popular-science and literary works aimed at adult readers. His articles, reviews, poems, column pieces, and translations appeared in periodicals including "Gazeta Krakowska" (limericks and poems between 2004-2008 in his own column Michałki Rusinka [Taking the Mickey Rusinek]), "Playboy" (regular series of limericks 2006-09, with illustrations by Jerzy Kozień), the monthly "Kraków" (the column Lufcik [Vent] in 2007-09 featuring poems, rhyming lullabies, and song lyrics), the monthly "Twoje Dziecko" (2009-13; book recommendations for children with illustrations by his sister J. Rusinek), and the monthly "Bluszcz" (from 2010 to 2012, a regular column featuring small literary forms on the back page). He authored scripts for the popular science programme Retoryka poranna (Early Morning Rhetoric), broadcast on TVP1 in 2006. He wrote lyrics for songs performed by, among other, G. Turnau, A.M. Jopek, D. Miśkiewicz, N. Kukulska, J. Wójcicki, and Z. Zamachowski), as well as poems and column pieces published in periodicals including the "Kraków" (from 2011) and "Magazyn Świąteczny" (2014-16) supplements of the daily "Gazeta Wyborcza", the by-then quarterly "Przekrój" (the cycle of poems Makabreska [Macabresque] with illustrations by S. Kudas, from 2017) and the monthly "Twój Styl" (the travel column Nadbagaż [Excess Luggage] from 2019). He reviewed books as a regular contributor to the television programme Xięgarnia [Book Store] broadcast since 2012 on TVN24. He also collaborated with the related website xięgarnia.pl. He was a member of the honorary committee supporting Bronisław Komorowski's candidacy in the 2010 and 2015 presidential elections. In 2012, he was awarded the PRoton PR industry award in the category of press officer in recognition of his work as secretary to Wisława Szymborska. He coined the names of various humorous literary genres practised by the Nobel Prize-winning poet (lepiej [better], odwódka [boozies], and moskalik [herrings]). Following her death in 2012, he became president of the Wisława Szymborska Foundation. He was awarded a habilitation degree in 2013 in recognition of his academic achievements and the monograph Retoryka obrazu. Przyczynek do percepcyjnej teorii figury (Rhetoric of Images: Towards a perceptional theory of the figure). He joined the Council of the Polish Language, based at the Praesidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences, in 2015. He joined the Polish Society of Authors and Composers (ZAiKS) and the Literary Union Association (SUL) in 2019, as well as the Polish PEN Club in 2021. From 2020, he collaborated with the internet radio station Radio Nowy Świat on a weekly podcast, Pypcie na języku (Popping on your tongue). He renewed his collaboration with the daily "Gazeta Wyborcza", publishing a column about the language of politics in the online version of the supplement "Wysokie Obcasy" from 2020, as well as in the online magazine "Słówka" and the paper supplement "Wolna Sobota". In 2021, he was appointed professor at UJ. In 2022, he moved from the Chair of Literary Theory to the Chair of Communication Theory. He was awarded the Commission of National Education Medal in 2021. He lives in Krakow. In 1996, he married the doctor Barbara, née Marczyk; they have two children: Natalia (b. 1999) and Jakub (b. 2003).