Zbigniew Machej (1958), a poet, author of poems for children, translator and essayist. He comes from Czieszyn, Poland, and studied the Polish language and religious sciences at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He has worked as a teacher, journalist, cultural manager and diplomat. For almost nine years, he worked as a program director of the Polish Institute in Prague, then later as a director of the Polish Institute in Bratislava and as a deputy director of the International Visegrad Fund in Bratislava. In addition to his original work, he also translates literature, mainly poetry, from Czech, and English. He is a member of the Polish PEN Club.
His first book of poems Smakosze, kochankowie i płatni mordercy (Gourmets, Lovers and Tenant Killers) was published in 1984. He is the author of fourteen poetry collections (e.g. Legends of the Prague Underground, Memories of the Modern Poetry, Poems Against The Taxation of Poetry, Winter in a Small Town on the Border, Dark Subject of Observation). He also writes books for children. A selection of his poems Verses Against the Taxation of Poetry was published in translated by Juraj Andričík, Karol Chmel and Katarína Laučíková-Dugast in the publishing house Drewo a srd (2014).
He translated poems by Michal Habaj, Mária Ferenčuchová, Peter Šulej and Ivan Štrpka: Tichá ruka. Desať elégií / Silent Hand. Ten Elegies, which was nominated for the award European Poet of Freedom in Gdańsk. In autumn 2017, his translation of the selection of the liturgical songs of Juraj Tranovský Georgius Tranoscius: Pieśni duchowe, won the prize of the literary magazine Literatura na Świecie. Furthermore, he has translated a book of short proses Antidotum noctis (2018), a selection of poems by Ján Ondruš Prehĺtanie vlasu / Swallowing of a Hair(2021).
As a part of the LIC editorial plan, Zbigniew Machej published the book Môj rodák Tranoscius, môj sused Hviezdoslav / My Compatriot Tranoscius, My neighbour Hviezdoslav(2021).
