Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz

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Rafał Aleksander Ziemkiewicz (born September 13, 1964) is a Polish political fiction and science fiction author and journalist.

During his studies at the University of Warsaw (Polish language and literature) in 1984 he joined SFAN science fiction fan association and started writing short stories. His first short story (Z palcem na spuście) was published in 1982. His book debut was Władca szczurów (Warsaw), (1987). He was also working for two Polish science-fiction magazines: Fantastyka (1986-1990) and Fenix (1990-1994).

In the 1990s he became one of the most popular Polish science-fiction authors. For his novels Pieprzony los kataryniarza (1995) and Walc stulecia (1998), as well as his short story Śpiąca królewna (1996) he was awarded the prestigious Zajdel Award. A popular theme in his works was the fate of Poland and more broadly, Europe, in the near future (from several to several dozen years). His books often paint the future in dark colors, showing the Commonwealth of Independent States disintegrate into a civil war, European Union becoming powerless in the face of Islamic terrorism, and predatory capitalism and political correctness taken ad absurdum leading to the erosion of morality and ethics. Thus his books are often classified as political fiction and social science fiction, although they stop short of being seen as dystopian fiction.

He is also a right-wing journalist, widely known for his homophobic opinions [1]. Until February 1997 Ziemkiewicz was working for Gazeta Polska as an author of political and socio-economical essays, many of which were later published in two essay anthologies. He was also a columnist of popular Polish magazine Wprost. As of 2005 he writes in the Polish edition of Newsweek.