Residential projects

Kraków’s map includes growing numbers of addresses serving as creative residential spaces. Since 2021, the Potocki Palace in the very heart of the city has hosted a residential apartment for authors spending time in Kraków as part of projects prepared by the Kraków UNESCO City of Literature programmes. The Decjusz Villa Cultural Institute has been offering grant programmes for many years, and it provides a residential space at the Łaskiego House in the Wola Justowska district. Wisława Szymborska’s former apartment has been converted by the Szymborska Foundation into a space for creative residencies lasting several weeks. Recently, Kraków gained another new space: the former apartment of Czesław Miłosz at Bogusławskiego Street opened its doors authors seeking a quiet space to work.

In order to make it easier for authors to find literary residencies in Kraków and other cities in Poland and abroad, in 2021 we were joined by the Municipal Cultural Institute in Gdańsk, the Old House of Culture in Warsaw, the Literary Translators Association and the Literary Union to create the portal literaryresidenciespoland.pl.

Grants

Creative Grants of the City of Kraków have been awarded since 1994 to people involved with creative activities, popularising culture and preserving historic monuments. Each grant is 25,000 zlotys net. The grants are funded by the Kraków Municipal Office.

Awards

Awarded since 2015, the Conrad Prize is Poland’s first accolade for prose debut. It aims to support up-and-coming Polish voices covering all non-poetry writing from fiction to non-fiction.

The Kraków UNESCO City of Literature Award supports book projects showcasing our city’s literary character. Cracovian authors developing projects on the themes of our city obtain finance and promotional activities such as launch meetings at independent bookshops and literary festivals.

The international Wisława Szymborska Prize is awarded in two categories: annually for a volume of poetry published in Polish the previous year, and every other year for a translation from a foreign language into Polish.

The Ferdynand Wspaniały Prize is awarded to authors and illustrators of books published the previous year as a culmination of the annual Children’s Literature Festival. The jury seeks out the best books aimed at readers aged between five and 12.

The Kazimierz Wyka Prize is awarded by the Marshal of the Małopolska Voivodeship and the Mayor of the City of Kraków in the field of literary criticism, essay and history of literature. It is one of very few distinctions of its kind in Poland.

The Yellow Slipper Prize for best children’s and YA book was founded by the Kraków Library in 2017, marking the centenary of the passing of Antonina Domańska – author of children’s stories and novels including The Yellow Slipper, popular with generations of Polish readers.

The Jan Długosz Prize is the most important award given as part of the competition running in parallel with the International Book Fair in Kraków. The competition popularises and awards works making a major contribution to the development of science and culture written by a Polish author and published the previous year.

The Transatlantyk Prize is awarded annually by the Book Institute to an important ambassador of Polish literature abroad; winners can be translators, publishers, critics and animators of cultural life.