2013 winner: Rober Wegner2012 winners: Jakub Ćwiek and Maja Lidia Kossakowska2011 winners: Jacek Dukaj and Anna Kańtoch
TheJanusz A. Zajdel Award (Nagroda imienia Janusza A. Zajdla), often called justZajdel,is the annual award given by the Polishscience fiction andfantasyfandom for the best stories published in the previous year. It was established in 1984.
It is the most prestigious of several Polish awards for that genre of literature.[1][2]
Previously the Polish Union of Fans of Science Fiction (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Fantastyki) issued theGolden Sepulka Award [pl] for works of science fiction (1983-1986).[5]
The Zajdel award was created in 1984 (to be awarded from 1985) under the nameSfinks (not to be confused with theSfinks Award [pl], an award of theSFinks [pl] magazine). After the death of the first winner,Janusz A. Zajdel, in 1985, the name was changed in his memory. Zajdel's widow, Jadwiga Zajdel, has presented the award to the winners since then.[4][6]
Until 1989, the award was given by Polishscience fiction fan associations, voting as units; since 1990, all fans present atPolcon convention can vote. Since 1991 the system has been based on two-tier ballot, compared to the system used in theHugo Award.[4][7]
Until 1991, there was a single award given for the best story; since 1992, there are two categories: novel and short story.[7]
The novel is loosely based on the legends aboutJakub Szela, the leader of a 1846 peasant uprising known as theGalician slaughter. It gained several other literary awards.[17]
Marta Potocka is a young writer, with several short stories. She works as a programmer. Her winning work "Chomik" ["Hamster"] was published in thee-zineEsensja [pl], no. 5, 2019. The story is set in thenear future Poland. The heavily criticizedSocial Insurance Institution is closed and the basicsocial security payment is introduced to everybody subject to the condition that to qualify for it the person must join the program of Social Monitoring. The Social Insurance Institution is replaced with the Social Balance Institution, whose function is to control that people spend as much money as possible. Those who do not want to spend are called "hamsters", i.e., "hoarders". An employee of SII tries to handle a particularly tough "hamster" and fails, but instead uncovers a much larger problem.[17]Chomik is available online.[18]
^Związek Stowarzyszeń "Fandom Polski", ed. (2006).Nagroda im. Janusza A. Zajdla: antologia utworów nominowanych za rok. Warszawa: Związek Stowarzyszeń "Fandom Polski". p. 205.ISBN9788392125693.
^abc"Historia".Nagroda Zajdla (in Polish). Retrieved2024-01-10.
