SYLWIA CHUTNIK

Sylwia Chutnik is a writer, columnist, and activist with a PhD in cultural studies. A recipient of the prestigious Polityka Passport and three-time nominee for the Nike Literary Award, she is a graduate of cultural, gender, and Polish–Jewish studies. She lectures at the University of Warsaw and SWPS University, curates literary festivals and initiatives, and contributes to Polityka, Times of the Literature, and other platforms. Her work appears in Polish and international outlets, and she has received multiple literary and social awards for advancing civic engagement and cultural discourse.

MARTA KWAŚNICKA

Marta Kwaśnicka is a writer, literary critic, and editor with a PhD in history from the John Paul II Pontifical University in Cracow. She is the author of Jadwiga, a vivid biography of the Polish queen and Catholic saint that reconstructs the spiritual and intellectual milieu of fourteenth-century Europe while portraying Cracow’s vibrant landscape. A recipient of multiple literary honors, including the Dedals’ Wings and Marek Nowakowski Literary Awards, she also publishes scholarly works, including two monographs on the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century history of the Jesuit Order. She lives in Cracow.

KAROLINA LEWESTAM

Karolina Lewestam is a Member of the IUS Council, writer, and public intellectual with a PhD in philosophy from Boston University. A former columnist for the center-right daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, she serves on the editorial board of Pismo and writes a monthly column on culture, philosophy, and literature. She has lectured at Boston University and the University of Warsaw and is the bestselling author of children’s books. Nominated for the Grand Press Award, Poland’s leading journalism prize, she remains an active voice in contemporary cultural debate. She lives in London.

ANNA MERRIMAN

Anna Merriman is an editor and former daily news journalist who edits the English edition of Przekrój, Poland’s national arts and culture magazine. Previously an award-winning reporter for newspapers in Ohio, New Jersey, and New Hampshire, she covered the criminal justice system and local government. She has also served as an editor with Vox Media in Philadelphia and taught writing at SWPS University in Warsaw. Drawing on U.S. newsroom rigor and Poland’s cultural scene, she bridges reporting, editing, and pedagogy. She lives in Warsaw with her cat, Bąbelek (Bubbles).

AGNES MONOD-GAYRAUD

Agnes Monod-Gayraud is an author, editor, and translator based in London, specializing in non-fiction on science, nature, culture, and folklore. She has translated more than a dozen books from Polish into English, including Earthlings (Big Picture Press, 2024), and co-authored Faedom, an illustrated compendium of fairies and earth science (Big Picture Press, 2024). In 2017 she received the Educational Writers’ Award for The Book of Bees (Thames & Hudson/Abrams). A freelance editor for Astronomy & Astrophysics, she holds degrees from New York University and the University of Warsaw.

PIOTR SIEMION

Piotr Siemion is a novelist, literary translator, and attorney. He received a PhD in humanities and a JD from Columbia University in New York. A Fulbright scholar, Siemion lived in the US and Canada from 1988 to 2000, where he translated works by William Butler Yeats, Tom Clancy, and Thomas Pynchon (for which he won the 1990 “Literature in the World” Award). He worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. A winner of several major literary awards in Poland, he currently resides in Warsaw.

ZIEMOWIT SZCZEREK

Ziemowit Szczerek is a journalist, writer, and translator whose work probes Central and Eastern Europe through a distinctive gonzo lens. Winner of the “Polityka” Passport, the Grand Prix of the Kryminalna Warszawa Festival, and the Silver Distinction of the Jerzy Żuławski Literary Award, he has twice been nominated for the Nike Literary Award. His books, including Mordor Will Come and Eat Us and The Triumphant Republic, blend reportage, history, and fiction to interrogate regional myths, deconstruct stereotypes, and illuminate the political and cultural complexities of the post-Soviet space.

JONATHAN WEBER

Jonathan Weber is a graduate of the University of Glasgow and a professional translator and proofreader with nearly three decades of freelance experience. After early work in market research, over the past fifteen years he has focused on sociological, philosophical, and economic texts, collaborating with scholars, think tanks, and publishers. Born in London, raised in Scotland, and long based in Warsaw, he brings a distinctly European perspective to his craft, combining linguistic precision with sensitivity to disciplinary nuance and cross-cultural context.

KATE WEBSTER

Kate Webster is a translator from Polish into English, specializing in literature, academic texts, and the arts. Her published translations include works of fiction, fantasy and reportage, as well as children’s books and comics. Her work has been shortlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation (2024) and the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize (2023), and longlisted for the International Booker Prize (2024). She is based in London.

PERSPECTIVES