Joanna Bator

(Poland, 1968) is a writer, journalist and professor of philosophy. A student of cultural studies and philosophy, she earned her doctorate with a thesis on feminism, postmodernism and psychoanalysis that was published as a book in 2011. Bator taught in Japan, which became the basis of her breakthrough novel Japoński wachlarz (Japanese Fan). In 2013 she won the top Polish literary award, the Nike, with Ciemno, prawie noc (Dark, almost Night). This novel is about a young woman who returns to her hometown of Wałbrzych (also Bator's hometown). An investigative journalist, she wants to look into the mysterious disappearance of three children. The village's inhabitants behave strangely, and sinister events force her to confront dark aspects of her own past: her parents' death and her sister's suicide. Bator employs a mixture of styles, from Gothic horror to chatroom lingo. During the festival, her work will be the subject of the Polish translation contest.