Maja Mozga-Górecka Wins 2026 Conrad Award
Maja Mozga-Górecka has won the 2026 Conrad Award. The prize honours her book „Figlarnie. Przestrzenie radykalnej prywatności”, published by Karakter. The winners were announced on 24 October during a gala at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków, as part of the Conrad Festival. The award is given for the best prose debut, and this year marks its 12th edition.
In Brief
- The 2026 Conrad Award laureate is Maja Mozga-Górecka, author of the book „Figlarnie. Przestrzenie radykalnej prywatności”.
- The results were announced on 24 October during a gala at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków.
- The award is given for the best prose debut; this is its 12th edition.
- The winner was chosen jointly by the competition jury and readers.
- Five authors made it to the final round.
Who Won and for What
This year’s Conrad Award went to Maja Mozga-Górecka. The prize honours her book „Figlarnie. Przestrzenie radykalnej prywatności”, which was published by Karakter. The competition is open to authors making their debut in prose, and this year’s edition was its twelfth. The laureate was selected jointly by the competition jury and readers, as was announced before the gala.
The results were announced on 24 October in Kraków. The announcement took place during a ceremony at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre and was part of the program of the Conrad Festival, within which this award is presented every year.
What „Figlarnie” Is About
The award-winning book takes the form of an essay. Its subject is privacy and the spaces designed as places of seclusion and refuge, that is, places where one can withdraw and remain apart from others. The author draws on various examples of such places, describing, among others, summer houses, gardens and studies.
The title „figlarnie” also appears in this survey. The available information about the book does not elaborate further on the details of its construction, but it is clear that privacy is approached here through the lens of space, rather than solely as a general category.
The Five Finalists
Five authors were nominated for the final stage of the competition. Alongside the laureate, four other people competed for the prize, whose prose debuts also made it into the final five.
The finalists were:
- Emilia Konwerska
- Arek Kowalik
- Zofia Lorek
- Maja Mozga-Górecka
- Zofia Zaleska
The Gala as Part of the Conrad Festival
The ceremony took place at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, a centre of the city’s cultural life, and was one of the events of the Conrad Festival. The results of the competition for the best prose debut are announced and the prize is presented within this festival.
The available information does not indicate that the gala involved any changes to traffic organisation, public transport or the work of Kraków’s institutions. The event was purely cultural and literary in nature, and its main outcome was the naming of the laureate of the twelfth edition of the award.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nagrodę przyznano za esej „Figlarnie. Przestrzenie radykalnej prywatności”, wydany przez Karakter. Książka dotyczy prywatności i przestrzeni projektowanych jako miejsca odosobnienia i azylu, takich jak domy letnie, ogrody, gabinety oraz tytułowe figlarnie.
O wyborze zdecydowały wspólnie kapituła konkursu i czytelnicy. Taki sposób wyłonienia zwycięzcy zapowiadano jeszcze przed galą, na której 24 października ogłoszono wyniki 12. edycji nagrody.
Wyniki ogłoszono 24 października 2026 roku podczas gali w Teatrze im. Juliusza Słowackiego w Krakowie. Wydarzenie było częścią programu Festiwalu Conrada, w ramach którego przyznawana jest Nagroda Conrada.
Key Facts
- Maja Mozga-Górecka is the laureate of the 12th edition of the Conrad Award for a prose debut.
- The award-winning book is an essay on privacy and spaces of seclusion.
- The 24 October gala in Kraków did not involve any changes to traffic or public transport.
Based on information from: krakow.pl
