SZLOSAREK Artur

Born on 26 May 1968 in Krakow; son of the technologist Eugeniusz Szlosarek and the teacher Emilia, née Francuz. In 1983, he became a pupil at the King Jan III Sobieski Grammar School No. II in Krakow before joining the Bolesław Bierut (now C.K. Norwid) Grammar School No. XII in the same city. After completing his advanced secondary education in 1987, he studied Polish philology at the Jagiellonian University (UJ). He made his debut in 1988 with the poems Errare humanum est and List do Ksantypy (Letter to Xanthippe) in the literary periodical "Zeszyty Literackie" (no. 24), where he also published in subsequent years (1989-90, 2003 and 2009). He left for Germany in 1989, where he took a one-year German with the Bonn-based Akademie Niederberg, organized through the Otto-Benecke-Stiftung. From 1990 to 1994, he studied comparative literature, German studies and philosophy at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn. He then returned to his degree in Polish philology at UJ, graduating with a master's degree in 1997 having written a dissertation on Paul Celan. He remained active as a poet. In 1993, he was awarded the Kościelski Foundation Prize. The same year, he joined the Krakow branch of the Polish Writers' Association (SPP). He made his debut as a translator in 1995 with Polish versions of poems by Paul Celan that were published in the periodical "NaGłos" (no. 21). He was in Vienna in 1998/99 before moving to Berlin where he had various jobs. He received a grant from the Foundation for Supporting Independent Polish Scholarship and Culture in Paris in 1991, from the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1999, the Berlin Senate for Science and Culture in 2000, the Robert Bosch Foundation in 2001, the Cultural Commission of the European Communities for the International Translators College in Straelen in 2002, and the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Poland in 2005. His poems, articles, translations from German and occasional reviews appeared in periodicals including "Kultura" (Paris) (1988, 1993-94, and 1998), "bruLion" (1989), "Tygodnik Powszechny" (1990, 1992-93, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003-04, and 2007), "NaGłos" (1992 and 1994-96), "Transit" (Frankfurt am Main, 1993), "Res Publica Nowa" (1996 and 1998-2003), "Dekada Literacka" (1998 and 2002), "Lampa" (1998 and 2010), "Pogranicza" (2000 and 2003; including here the cycle of poetic prose Z fiszek do piekła [From flashcards to hell], 2009), "Kresy" (2001), "Kwartalnik Artystyczny" (from 2001; in 2014 he became a regular contributor; including in 2017 the cycles of articles/essays titled Fragmenty [Fragments] and 2019-2022 Notatki do zapomnianych podróży [Notes on forgotten journeys] (nos 1-10)), "Znak" (2004), "Poesie", *(Paris; 2004), "Arte" (2005-06), "Migotania, Przejaśnienia" (2005), "Sinn und Form", (Berlin; 2007 and 2020), "Akzente" (Munich; 2008 and 2011), "Jahrbuch Polen 2011. Kultur", (Wiesbaden; 2011), "Ostragehege", (Dresden; 2012), "Elewator" (2013; editor between 2011 and 2013). Between 2004 and 2008, he was the Berlin correspondent of the London based "Tydzień Polski". In 2014, he developed an interest in documentary photography, particularly street photography. He was self-taught and took part in photography workshops and exhibitions. In 2015, he joined the Polish PEN Club. He was the initiator and then curator of the LiteraturPOLSKA programme at the Polish Institute and Humboldt University in Berlin (2017-18). From 2019 to 2022, he served as secretary of the Berlin-based Gesellschaft für die Stadtentwicklung. In 2021, he was awarded a creative grant from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (MKiDN). He and his wife Dominika have two daughters: Kamila and Jaśmina. He lives in Berlin.