Marian Promiński

Marian Promiński studied philosophy at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv and law at the same university and the Catholic University in Lublin. His first publication as a poet appeared in the daily newspaper “Słowo Polskie” in Lviv. He was also co-founder and contributor to the monthly magazine “Sygnały”. Promiński was a narrator on the local Polish Radio, where his poems were also read as part of the series Poetry of Young Lviv. In 1935 he published Róże w betonie (Roses in Concrete), his first volume of short stories. During World War II, he worked in Lviv as a house caretaker.

After Promiński was forcibly deported with other Poles from Ukraine under Soviet rule, he lived in Koszalin in Zachodniopomorskie from 1945-49, where he managed the Czytelnik publishing house. He subsequently settled in Kraków. In 1953 he signed the resolution of the Union of Polish Writers supporting the manipulated death sentences in the Kraków trial of Polish priests. In 1961, Promiński was awarded the Prize of the City of Kraków. In 1977, a collection of his critical works was published posthumously. In addition to poetry and prose, he wrote essays, film and literary reviews, as well as screenplays and plays. He also worked as a translator of Anglo-Saxon literature.

His volume of short stories entitled Opowieści sportowe appeared in 1952 with 263 pages. After winning an award in the Polish national competition, this was the country’s only prose contribution to the 1952 Art Exhibition. Under the title The Goalkeeper of Santa Barbara and Other Sports Novellas, a German translation was published in 1953 by Sportverlag Berlin (East). Later editions in Poland also appeared under this title.