Keynote

An intimate autobiography of
the well-known Polish intellectual, and
at once a story of the life of women in
the patriarchal reality of contemporary
Poland.
Selling Points

 A very powerful and important
voice in the Polish public debate
concerning the rights of women and
non‑heteronormative people.
 The author is a well-known and respected
essayist (nominated among others to
the most important Polish literary award:
the Nike).
 Lis has lived in a relationship with
a woman for many years and talks from
that perspective about the patriarchal‑conversative
realities of life in Poland
in recent decades.
 A profound and original study of
depression.
 Part of the book is a diary; a record of
the struggle for women’s rights in Poland
in recent years.
 The book is a cultural-political panorama
of Polish reality – both contemporarily and
over the last few decades.
 The author is a very visible media figure
in Poland, writing for multiple Polish
newspapers, and also very active on social
media.

Description

What is life like in today’s Poland when
you are 52 and for 27 years have been in
a relationship with a woman? Renata Lis,
respected essayist and feature writer,
paints a painfully honest cultural and
political portrait of her homeland, which
year by year is becoming a more and
more closed country and more hostile
towards people living beyond the narrow
confines of a Catholic-conservative vision
of the world. In the first part, the author
describes – on the basis of family
recollections – the patriarchal mechanisms
that impact on many areas of life. She finds
evidence of them in the opinions of people
close to her, but also in language – both
official and private. The second part,
meanwhile, is an extended ‘note from
participating observation’, a testimony
of intimate experience: of the illness and
death of her mother, of the beginnings
of her relationship and homophobic
reactions to it. She writes about living with
her beloved and their cats, everyday life,
and depression. She doesn’t shy away from
issues such as the menopause or in vitro,
and her relationship to the Church and
the Catholic religion. She devotes plenty
of space to the so-called Black Protests –
the demonstrations in Poland in defence
of women’s rights.

Target Market
Fans of essay collections.
Readers interested in Polish society and
Polish politics today.