Andrzej Sapkowski
June 21, 1948
Andrzej Sapkowski is a Polish writer who is considered one of the best fantasy authors. His most famous work is the short stories and the follow-up saga of the witcher Geralt of Rivia and Princess Ciri.
Andrzej Sapkowski was born in Łódź, and because he has a talent for languages, he worked in foreign trade after graduating from university. He published his first short story in 1986 and two years later he was one of the most popular fantasy writers in Poland. In addition to books, he also writes short stories, reviews, commentaries and feuilletons, especially for the Polish fantasy magazines Fantastika and Magie and Meč (in orig. Fantastyka and Magia i miecz) Among his more recent works is the "saga of Reinmar of Bělava", better known as the Hussite Trilogy. It is a historical fantasy set during the Hussite Wars, especially in Silesia and Bohemia. For its rich language with a number of Latin quotations and the masterful gradation of the plot, it has been compared to Henryk Sienkiewicz's Crusaders. Sapkowski shows great knowledge of historical facts (he drew mainly from the Polish Chronicle of Jan Długosz), and the story features many historical figures from Silesia, Hungary and Poland. As in other novels, Sapkowski applies his famous irony and great sense of detail here. This uncrowned king of contemporary Polish, or Eastern European, fantasy was born on 21.6.1948 in the city of Łódź under the sign of Gemini. He graduated from university, speaks several world languages, is married, and originally worked in foreign trade. In 1986, he published his first short story The Witcher in the Polish magazine Fantastyka (later published in Czech in the magazine IKARIE). In 1988, he became the most popular Polish fantasy author in Fantastyka magazine. He is one of the most popular fantasy writers in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia and the whole of Eastern Europe. In 1996, his stories were published in German. In recent years, he has been writing reviews and feuilletons for the magazines Fantastyka and Magia i miecz. Awards won: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Awards: 1995 Blood of Elves, 1996 Time of Contempt, 1998 Tower of the Swallow. Ikarie Magazine Ikaros Awards: 1993 The Witcher, 1994 The Sword of Destiny, 1996 Blood of the Elves. Czechoslovak fandom LUDVÍK Award: 1993 The Witcher.