The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories

A revelatory and richly varied collection of Poland's greatest short stories, with a foreword by Nobel Prize-winner Olga Tokarczuk

Witty, surprising and sparkling, this anthology is an essential exploration of Polish literature. Its thirty-nine superb stories run the length of the literal and imaginative creation of Poland, from 1918 (when Poland regained its independence after 123 years of colonization by the neighbouring empires) to the present.

The stories include ‘Miss Winczewska’, by the acclaimed twentieth-century writer Maria Dabrowska (1889―1965), based on her experience of helping to establish a library for soldiers at the Citadel military base in Warsaw in the interwar period; and 'In the Shadow of Brooklyn' by Stanislaw Dygat (1914―1978), the comical tale of a young man's envy of what he imagines to be his father's success with women. At the contemporary end, it includes a story by Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk (1962), 'The Green Children', a historical story set in 1656, narrated by a Scottish doctor who, as the Polish king's physician, travels about the wilds of Poland and encounters two feral children. Curated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, this anthology is a refreshing and glorious new collection of the best in Polish literature.

About the Author

Antonia Lloyd-Jones (External Editor)
Antonia Lloyd-Jones has translated works by many of Poland's leading contemporary novelists and reportage authors, as well as crime fiction, poetry and children's books. Her translation of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by 2018 Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk was shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International prize. For ten years she was a mentor for the Emerging Translators' Mentorship Programme, and is a former co-chair of the UK Translators Association.