The Kościelski Award is an independent Polish

Polish literature

Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages, used in Poland over the centuries, have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Yiddish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German and...

 literary award

Literary award

A literary award is an award presented to an author who has written a particularly lauded piece or body of work. There are awards for forms of writing ranging from poetry to novels. Many awards are also dedicated to a certain genre of fiction or non-fiction writing . There are also awards...

, awarded since 1962 by the Geneva-based Kościelski Foundation. The jury issues annual awards to "promising writers" 40 years of age or younger. Past winners have included Sławomir Mrożek, Zbigniew Herbert

Zbigniew Herbert

Zbigniew Herbert was an influential Polish poet, essayist, drama writer, author of plays, and moralist. A member of the Polish resistance movement – Home Army during World War II, he is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers...

, Adam Zagajewski

Adam Zagajewski

Adam Zagajewski is a Polish poet, novelist, translator and essayist.In 1982 he emigrated to Paris, but in 2002 he returned to Poland, and resides in Kraków. His poem "Try To Praise The Mutilated World", printed in The New Yorker, became famous after the 11 September attacks...

, Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, Stefan Chwin

Stefan Chwin

Stefan Chwin is a Polish novelist, literary critic, and historian of literature whose life and literary work is closely linked to his hometown. He holds a post of Literature Professor at the University of Gdansk, his professional interests are focused on romanticism.The most well-known novel by...

, Pilch

Pilch

Pilch or PILCH may refer to:* The Public Interest Law Clearing House , an independent, not-for-profit legal referral service based in Melbourne, Australia- Family name :* Adalbert Pilch...

, Huelle, Stasiuk, Olga Tokarczuk

Olga Tokarczuk

Olga Tokarczuk is one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful Polish writers of her generation, particularly noted for the hallmark mythical tone of her writing. She trained as a psychologist at the University of Warsaw. She has published a collection of poems, three novels,...

, Tomasz Różycki

Tomasz Różycki

Tomasz Różycki is a Polish poet and translator. He studied Romance Languages at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, and taught French at the Foreign Languages Teaching College in Opole...

, Jacek Dehnel

Jacek Dehnel

Jacek Dehnel in Gdańsk, Poland) is a Polish poet, writer, translator and painter. Dehnel studied at Warsaw University in the MISH College and graduated from the Polish Language and Literature department...

, Jolanta Stefko, Mikołaj Łoziński and most recently Jacek Dukaj

Jacek Dukaj

Jacek Dukaj is a Polish science fiction writer. Winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award , Śląkfa , Żuławski Award , Kościelski Award and the European Union Prize for Literature .-Career:Dukaj studied philosophy at the Jagiellonian University...

. It is the oldest independent award in Polish literature.