Nike 2025: Final Seven Announced for Poland’s Top Literary Prize
Poland’s prestigious Nike Literary Award has revealed its 2025 finalists, showcasing the breadth of contemporary Polish writing across biography, fiction, poetry, and essays. The winner will be announced on 5 October at the University Library in Warsaw, alongside the Readers’ Choice poll that opens with today’s shortlist.
The final seven are: Beata Guczalska for the monumental biography “Konrad Swinarski. Biografia ukryta”; Ignacy Karpowicz for the genre-bending novel “Ludzie z nieba”; Eliza Kącka for the intimate, formally inventive essay “Wczoraj byłaś zła na zielono”; Kora Tea Kowalska for “Patrz pod nogi. O zbieraniu rzeczy,” a cultural meditation on collecting and artifacts; Dorota Masłowska for the linked-story collection “Magiczna rana”; Tomasz Różycki for the war-shadowed poetry volume “Hulanki & Swawole”; and Paweł Sołtys (Pablopavo) for “Sierpień,” a Warsaw-set wandering essay blending memory and myth.
This is Karpowicz’s fifth Nike final; Masłowska is a six-time nominee and three-time finalist. Justyna Jaworska chairs the 2025 jury and includes Anna Arno, Witold Bereś, Bogdan Białek, Andrzej Brzeziecki, Zbigniew Mentzel, Radosław Romaniuk, Katarzyna Sawicka-Mierzyńska, and Krzysztof Siwczyk.
Last year’s Nike went to poet Urszula Kozioł for “Raptularz,” while the Readers’ Award honored Michał Witkowski’s “Wiara. Autobiografia.”
