Marcin Baran

Born in 1963 in Krakow, Poland. Poet, literary critic, journalist. He graduated from Polish Philology at Jagiellonian University. Co-founder of bruLion quarterly magazine (1986); one of its editors until 1990. He was a cultural journalist of Radio Krakow, Radio Mariackie and Polish Television, as well as a member of Dekada Literacka editorial team. His critical works were published in Gazeta Wyborcza, Tygodnik Powszechny, Res Publica, Ex Libris and Życie. He made his debut in 1990 with poem collection entitled Pomieszanie. Up to now, he has published 12 poetic books: Pomieszanie (1990), Sosnowiec jest jak kobieta (1992), Sprzeczne fragmenty (1996), Zabiegi miłosne (1996; nominated to Nike Award in 1997), Tanero (1998), Prozak liryczny (1999), Bóg raczy wiedzieć (2000), Destylat (2001), Gnijąca wisienka i inne wcielenia (2003), Mistyka i zmysły (2008), Mniej, więcej, wszystko (2011), Niemal całkowita utrata płynności (2012). He edited the anthology Długie pożegnanie. Tribute to Chandler (1997), consisting of poems dedicated to Raymond Chandler, as well as the anthology Żegnaj, laleczko. Wiersze noir (2010) with Marcin Sendecki and Marcin Świetlicki. In 2004, a bilingual, English-Polish anthology of his selection, co-edited with Anna Skucińska and Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese, entitled Carnivorous Boy, Carnivorous Bird was published by the Zephyr Press American publishing house. This book is a collection of poems of 24 Polish poets born between 1958 and 1969. Baran’s poems have been translated into English, German, French, Russian, Czech, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Slovenian. In the years 2000-2004, he was a journalist for Przekrój. Later, he worked for the Book Institute in Krakow, where he promoted literature and readership. He was editor-in-chief of the ARTE monthly cultural news magazine. From 2007 to 2011, he was vice-editor-in-chief of Dziennik Polski, the largest regional newspaper in the region of Małopolska. He co-organised (from 1996 to 2004) all editions of the Writers’ Warsaw Festival. He was the originator of the Crime Story Festival. Programming director of the Bruno Schulz Festival in Wrocław, which was organised for the first time in 2012. He lives in Krakow.born in 1963 in Krakow, Poland. Poet, literary critic, journalist. He graduated from Polish Philology at Jagiellonian University. Co-founder of bruLion quarterly magazine (1986); one of its editors until 1990. He was a cultural journalist of Radio Krakow, Radio Mariackie and Polish Television, as well as a member of Dekada Literacka editorial team. His critical works were published in Gazeta Wyborcza, Tygodnik Powszechny, Res Publica, Ex Libris and Życie. He made his debut in 1990 with poem collection entitled Pomieszanie. Up to now, he has published 12 poetic books: Pomieszanie (1990), Sosnowiec jest jak kobieta (1992), Sprzeczne fragmenty (1996), Zabiegi miłosne (1996; nominated to Nike Award in 1997), Tanero (1998), Prozak liryczny (1999), Bóg raczy wiedzieć (2000), Destylat (2001), Gnijąca wisienka i inne wcielenia (2003), Mistyka i zmysły (2008), Mniej, więcej, wszystko (2011), Niemal całkowita utrata płynności (2012). He edited the anthology Długie pożegnanie. Tribute to Chandler (1997), consisting of poems dedicated to Raymond Chandler, as well as the anthology Żegnaj, laleczko. Wiersze noir (2010) with Marcin Sendecki and Marcin Świetlicki. In 2004, a bilingual, English-Polish anthology of his selection, co-edited with Anna Skucińska and Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese, entitled Carnivorous Boy, Carnivorous Bird was published by the Zephyr Press American publishing house. This book is a collection of poems of 24 Polish poets born between 1958 and 1969. Baran’s poems have been translated into English, German, French, Russian, Czech, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Slovenian. In the years 2000-2004, he was a journalist for Przekrój. Later, he worked for the Book Institute in Krakow, where he promoted literature and readership. He was editor-in-chief of the ARTE monthly cultural news magazine. From 2007 to 2011, he was vice-editor-in-chief of Dziennik Polski, the largest regional newspaper in the region of Małopolska. He co-organised (from 1996 to 2004) all editions of the Writers’ Warsaw Festival. He was the originator of the Crime Story Festival. Programming director of the Bruno Schulz Festival in Wrocław, which was organised for the first time in 2012. He lives in Krakow. On 23rd October in The Pałac pod Baranami Marcin Baran will talk with Ireneusz Kania and Michał Bzinkowski about greek poet Konstandinos Kawafis.Picture: Adrian Fichmann