Andrzej Sapkowski was born in Poland in 1948. He is a major heroic-fantasy writer: his oeuvre has received Poland’s Janusz A. Zajdel prize five times, as well as Great Britain’s David Gemmell Award for Fantasy, in 2009. In 2016, he received the World Fantasy Award—Life Achievement in the United States.
When did Andrzej Sapkowski start writing fantasy books?
Winning third place in a short story writing competition in 1986, a contest which Andrzej Sapkowski apparently entered upon a whim by his own volition, he was soon well on his way to becoming a highly regarded and successful fantasy author.
How old was Andrzej Sapkowski when he wrote The Witcher?
In 1985, Andrzej Sapkowski was a 38-year-old travelling fur salesman with an economics degree and a love of fantasy literature. He decided to enter a short story competition, limited to 30-pages, held by Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine Fantastyka.
How old was Andrzej Sapkowski when he wrote wiedzmin?
Andrzej Sapkowski was 38 years old when he wrote a short story called “Wiedźmin” (“The Witcher”) and submitted it to a short-story contest in Fantastyka (the only sci-fi and fantasy magazine in Poland at the time). That was in 1986, when Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain, and Heroic Fantasy was a derided genre.
Who are the main characters in Narrenturm by Andrzej Sapkowski?
Andrzej Sapkowski launched with Narrenturm a new trilogy, this time a historical fantasy set during the vibrantly depicted Hussite wars. The hero of the trilogy is Reinmar of Bielau, called Reynevan. He is a learned herbalist and medic, a somewhat naive, yet extremely likeable youth.
Who are some of Sapkowski’s favorite writers and why?
In an interview, Sapkowski mentioned that his favorite writers included Ernest Hemingway, Mikhail Bulgakov, Raymond Chandler and Umberto Eco, and stated “I love their style, but I know I can never match them”. When also asked about feminism, Sapkowski said “I believe that the feminine element dominates in nature.