The novel is available at Agora and Papirus bookshops in Bolesławiec and in the online store: sklep.istotne.pl.
This is Grażyna Hanaf’s fourth publication. Each time, a regular group of readers attends the promotion of her fairy tales and novels. This time, those who had been eagerly awaiting the second part of the story about Joachim, a gay man from Wrocław spending his holidays in our city, came to the event.
The novel “Joachim Zemsta” contains a crime storyline that Hanaf consulted with Janusz Lipskithe head of the Criminal Division of the District Police Headquarters in Bolesławiec.
“I was worried whether I would be able to present the story of the beatings reliably, so I sought a consultation,” the writer explains. “The police spokesperson arranged a meeting with the head of the division. I familiarized him with the plot, and he explained several key matters to me so that the story would be credible. Afterwards, he asked who beats the boys, but I did not reveal the ending of the novel. Police spokesperson Anna Kublik-Rościszewska attended the promotion; I hope that after reading the book she will report back to her boss,” the novel’s author jokes.
Grażyna Hanaf talked about her publications. She presented two therapeutic fairy tales: “Garbuska”—about the power of parental love—and “The Box Girl”—about confronting fear—and revealed several controversies connected with the publication of the novel’s first part.
“When I made my debut with a book about a homosexual man, I expected a stronger attack from homophobes, but I was attacked by people associated with the Via Sudetica Association of Local Initiatives, Bogdan Nowak and Bernard Łętowski,” Grażyna Hanaf said at the meeting. “They were furious that I had violated the sanctity of their Gliniada and attacked their community. Today, that community no longer exists, Nowak did not organize Gliniada, while in my novel there is still a parade of Glinoludowie, and people in Poland and beyond its borders read about it. In the second edition, I have now included beautiful photographs from several Gliniadas taken by Krzysztof Gwizdała.”
What was Łętowski and Nowak’s objection? They were not prepared for the pastiche, grotesque and irony with which I treated the Gliniada organizations in the novel. Having worked for Gliniada for several years, I unfortunately taught them that I had always supported every initiative and done good promotional work. My article about Gliniada was published in Polityka. When I stopped writing eulogies, some people lost their tempers and… as a result, they gave me extraordinarily valuable publicity. A spy was even sent to the first promotional meeting; the person recorded everything and took the recording to their protectors. This person can be found in photographs from 2013 in the article “I Invented Gliniada” in the panoramic photograph,” added the author of Joachim Zemsta.
At the meeting with the author, Jerzy Małachowski, former deputy president of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, also said a few words about the novel.
“I came to my first meeting with Grażyna, almost three years ago, out of curiosity, but I also kept my distance from the author and her debut,” said Jerzy Małachowski. “Opinions were already circulating that the novel was scandalous. I bought it, read it and found nothing wrong there. It is a valuable publication on the Bolesławiec market; there are no other novels set in our city. I have already given several copies as gifts to people from all over Poland to show them the beauty of our city. Before the second part was published, I returned to the book again, and Joachim reads wonderfully,” Jerzy Małachowski congratulated the author.
