Huelle, Pawel 1957-

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Huelle, Pawel 1957-

PERSONAL:

Born 1957, in Gdansk, Poland. Education: Graduated from the University of Gdansk.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Gdansk, Poland.

CAREER:

Writer, journalist, poet. University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland, lecturer.

MEMBER:

PEN writers' association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Koscielski Prize, 1987, for his first novel, Who Was David Weiser?

WRITINGS:

Weiser Dawidek, Wydawnictwo Morskie (Gdansk, Poland), 1987, translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones published as Who Was David Weiser?, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1991.

Opowiadania Na Czas Przeprowadzki (title means "Stories for a Time of Relocation or Moving House"), Puls (London, England), 1991, translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones published as Moving House and Other Stories, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1994.

Wiersze (poems), Wydawnictwo Morskie (Gdansk, Poland), 1994.

Pierwsza Milosc I Inne Opowiadania (title means "First Love and Other Stories"), Puls (London, England), 1996.

Inne Historie (title means "Different Stories"), Slowo/obraz terytoria (Gdansk, Poland), 1999.

Mercedes-Benz Z Listow Do Hrabala, Znak (Krakow, Poland), 2001, translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones published as Mercedes-Benz: From Letters to Hrabal, Serpent's Tail (London, England), 2005.

Castorp, Slowo/obraz terytoria (Gdansk, Poland), 2004, translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Serpent's Tail (London, England), 2007.

Ostania wieczerza, Znak (Krakow, Poland), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Polish novelist and poet Pawel Huelle was born and raised in Gdansk and attended the university there. He has worked as a journalist, a lecturer, and in television, in addition to his career as a respected and award-winning author. Huelle's hometown of Gdansk and its history—particularly surrounding World War II—feature prominently in his work, often playing a distinct character in his narratives, even when he includes other settings. His first book, Weiser Dawidek, or Who Was David Weiser?, was awarded the Koscielski Prize in 1987. The story takes place in Gdansk in 1957, and tells of the disappearance of a thirteen-year-old Jewish boy and how one of his childhood friends investigates the incident many years later because he is still haunted by the events of that time. Huelle combines thriller and detective story with a parable that includes many historical metaphors and can be looked at as addressing merely the process of growing up or far more serious issues. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly found the book to be a "strange, almost hypnotic but ultimately unsatisfying novel."

In Moving House and Other Stories, Huelle sets a series of short stories in Gdansk following World War II, but before the Polish Solidarity Movement of the 1980s. The style of these short works combines magical realism with the harshness of reality, telling of the hardship of people living in that time and in that place. In a review for Booklist, contributor Ron Antonucci quoted Huelle himself, remarking: "Like the best fairy tales and myths," these works are less "'symbols of the past"' than "'a challenge to the present.'" A reviewer for Publishers Weekly noted that the volume of "impeccably constructed and moving stories set in Gdansk goes a long way toward defining the Polish national character."

Mercedes-Benz: From Letters to Hrabal was written as an homage to Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal. In it, Huelle creates a novel out of a series of stories from his family history, mostly revolving around their experiences owning and sometimes racing Mercedes-Benzes. The reliability and indestructibility of the automobiles serve as a metaphor for the family's ability to survive from generation to generation, despite the hardships inherent in living in Eastern Europe during the twentieth century. Marek Kohn, in a review for the New Statesman, wrote: "Huelle's wit and his subtle gift for measuring absurdity stand comparison with Hrabal or any of the other great central European ironists." Josh Lacey, writing for the Guardian, commented: "Huelle writes in such an engaging, chatty style that you hardly notice the fraught circumstances underlying every tale." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews cited the volume for its "colorful setting and trenchant social commentary, but a cul-de-sac plot." A reviewer for Internet Bookwatch called the book "an unforgettable work of fictional literature."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 1994, Ron Antonucci, review of Moving House: Stories, p. 735.

Internet Bookwatch, May, 2006, review of Mercedes-Benz: From Letters to Hrabal.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2006, review of Mercedes-Benz, p. 254.

Publishers Weekly, October 25, 1991, review of Who Was David Weiser?, p. 46; November 21, 1994, review of Moving House and Other Stories, p. 67.