He graduated from theStefan Żeromski High School No. 5 inGdańsk, where he excelled inHumanities. Dehnel studied at theUniversity of Warsaw's College of Inter-Area Individual Studies In the Humanities and Social Sciences (Polish:Kolegium Międzyobszarowych Indywidualnych Studiów Humanistycznych i Społecznych) and graduated from the Faculty ofPolish Language andLiterature, where he obtained aMaster of Arts (M.A.) degree, writing a thesis onStanisław Barańczak's translations of Philip Larkin's works.[1][2]
His first collection of poems was the last book recommended by Polish Nobel Prize Laureate,Czesław Miłosz.[citation needed] Dehnel has published his poems in various literary magazines, includingKwartalnik Artystyczny,Studium,Przegląd Artystyczno-Literacki,Topos,Tytuł,Undergrunt. He also works for an internet literary portal Nieszuflada.
Between September 2006 and July 2009, he was a co-host of cultural programmeŁOSssKOT broadcast onTVP1 (together with musician Tymon Tymański and journalist Maciej Chmiel).
He has been awarded literary prizes that include theKościelski Award in 2005, thePaszport Polityki in 2007 and the cultural award of the city ofGdańskSplendor Gedanesis in 2009. He received five nominations for Poland's most prestigious literary prize – theNike Award:Balzakian (2009),Ekran kontrolny (2010),Saturn (2012);Matka Makryna (2015) andKrivoklat (2017) as well as two nominations for theAngelus Award forLala (2007) andSaturn (2012) and the 2014Wisława Szymborska Award for his book of poemsJęzyki obce ("Foreign Languages").
He lived and worked inWarsaw, from March 2020 inBerlin.[5][6] He openly identifies as gay, which is reflected in his literary works. In 2018, he married his long-term partner, translator and historianPiotr Tarczynski, inWandsworth Town Hall in London. Dehnel and his partner publish works under the female pseudonymMaryla Szymiczkowa.[7] In 2019, he undertookapostasy.[8] Dehnel and Tarczynski left Warsaw for Berlin in 2021.[9]
Lala. Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Oneworld Publications, London 2018,ISBN978-1786073570[10]
Balzakiana,(a collection of four mininovels) W.A.B.,Warsaw, 2008
Saturn. Czarne obrazy z życia mężczyzn z rodziny Goya, W.A.B.,Warsaw (English translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, published by Dedalus Books in 2013), 2011
Kosmografia, czyli trzydzieści apokryfów tułaczych, accompanying an exhibition of 15th-century maps in the Warsaw National Library, Biblioteka Narodowa,Warsaw (a collection of short stories), 2012
Młodszy księgowy, (a collection of columns on books and reading), W.A.B.,Warsaw, 2013
Matka Makryna ("Mother Makryna"), W.A.B, 2014
Tajemnica domu Helclów, (co-written with his partner Piotr Tarczyński), Znak literanova, 2015
Dziennik Roku Chrystusowego, W.A.B., 2015
Nowy Tajny Detektyw, NCK and Fundacja Picture Doc, 2015
Proteusz, czyli o przemianach. Spacerownik po historii Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie, Serenissima,Warsaw, 2015
Krivoklat, Znak, 2016
Rozdarta zasłona, (co-written with Piotr Tarczyński) Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy Znak, 2016
Mrs Mohr Goes Missing, (co-written with Piotr Tarczyński and translated by Antonia Lloyd Jones) Bloomsbury, 2019
Ale z naszymi umarłymi, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2019
