Literary evening
Magdalena Parys & Maciej Siembieda
- When
- Thursday, 26 November 2026
from 19:00
Free admission - Where
- Kulturcafé Tachles
Karmeliterplatz 1, 1020 Wien
Two voices of contemporary Polish literature at Karmeliterplatz: Magdalena Parys and Maciej Siembieda talk about their novels “Der Prinz” and “Katharsis”, both published in German by Vienna’s Polente Verlag in 2026. An evening about political intrigue, secrets that outlive generations, and how much truth hides behind the official story.
“Der Prinz” is set in present-day Berlin, where a murder in the cathedral, a fire in a migrant settlement and growing separatist moods all point back to a past that was never dealt with. “Katharsis” travels from Greek partisans and the Gdynia black market of the 1930s to a uranium mine in post-war Lower Silesia. Different as the two books are, they ask the same question: what does suppressed history do to the people who live inside it? That is what the two authors will discuss – guilt and loyalty, power and manipulation, remembering and forgetting.
The evening is hosted by Markus Schnabel, publisher at Polente Verlag, a Leopoldstadt press specialising in Polish crime and suspense fiction in German translation. Ewa Krauss, who translated “Katharsis” into German, will interpret the conversation.
Who reads
Magdalena Parys
Author of “Der Prinz”
Magdalena Parys was born in Gdańsk in 1971, moved to West Berlin with her family in 1984 and has lived there ever since. She studied Polish philology and education at Humboldt University. Her debut “Tunel” appeared in 2011; “Magik” (German title “Der Magier”), the first volume of her Berlin trilogy, won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2015. “Der Prinz” is the trilogy’s second volume and was selected for the 2026 Hotlist of independent German-language publishers. Parys also writes columns on social and political issues, among others for Gazeta Wyborcza.
Maciej Siembieda
Author of “Katharsis”
Maciej Siembieda, born in Starachowice in 1961, spent most of his career as a journalist and reporter, including as editor-in-chief of “Nowa Trybuna Opolska”, “Trybuna Śląska” and “Dziennik Bałtycki”. His reportage earned him three awards from the Polish Journalists’ Association; he holds a doctorate in political science and lives in Sopot. Since 2017 he has written novels, among them the series about prosecutor Jakub Kania and the Greek trilogy “Katharsis”, “Nemezis” and “Kairos”. “Katharsis” won him the readers’ award of the Wielki Kaliber crime festival in 2023, and “Gołoborze” the festival’s main prize in 2026.
- Host
- Markus Schnabel (Polente Verlag)
- Translation
- Ewa Krauss
The books
© Polente Verlag Der Prinz
Magdalena Parys · Polente Verlag, 2026 · order from Polente Verlag
Translated by Lothar Quinkenstein and Hans Gregor Njemz
Present-day Berlin. A crucified priest is found in the cathedral, a fire breaks out in a migrant settlement, and separatist moods grow in several federal states. Police chief Tschapieski, journalist Dagmara Bosch and detective Kowalski ask who benefits from these seemingly unrelated events: a prince with imperial dreams, an intelligence service beyond democratic control, or members of government fighting for the top office. The second volume of the Berlin trilogy follows “Der Magier”. The Polish original won the Złoty Pocisk readers’ award in 2021; the German translation by Lothar Quinkenstein and Hans Gregor Njemz was selected for the 2026 Hotlist.
© Polente Verlag Katharsis
Maciej Siembieda · Polente Verlag, 2026 · order from Polente Verlag
Translated by Ewa Krauss
In 1949 the Greek partisan Kostas Tosidos arrives with his family at a secret hospital on the Polish Baltic island of Wolin; a new identity cannot protect him from his past. In the 1930s the smuggler Sacharin runs Gdynia’s black market until betrayal and war upend his life. Kostas’s son Janis has to give up boxing, joins the militia and, during an investigation, uncovers his father’s secret. The storylines meet in a uranium mine in Lower Silesia, where the Soviets mined ore for their atomic programme after the war. The first volume of the Greek trilogy won the readers’ award of the Wielki Kaliber festival in 2023; Ewa Krauss’s German translation made the Deutschlandfunk Kultur crime fiction list in June 2026.
Organisers: Polish Institute Vienna, Polente Verlag, Kulturcafé Tachles
Partner: Polish Book Institute – Instytut Książki
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