Makryna Mieczysławska, the main protagonist of Dehnel's next novel Mother Makryna, is also a historical figure. This famous 19th-century swindler who pretended to be the prioress of an Uniate monastery in Minsk and complained about the harassment of the Russian authorities, was widely listened to by Polish emigrants, led by the famous Adam Mickiewicz. In his review for Gazeta Wyborcza, Dariusz Nowacki praised – without any doubts, this time – the stylistic virtuosity of the author, who archaised the language in a way invisible to readers. The critic also points out that Dehnel, who, in his private life, fights for gay rights in Poland, sympathizes with his protagonist and:
...adds his voice to a wide discussion about exclusion, trying to empathize with the position of somebody, who describes herself as: "First, a widow. Second, a beggar. Third, a granny. Fourth, a hag. Fifth, a Jewish apostate. Sixth, an ugly woman. Scars on her face, some of them fresh, wrinkled, bent, swollen legs, gasping when climbing stairs".
In 2015, together with Piotr Tarczyński, Dehnel published a period crime story under the name Maryla Szymiczkowa, Tajemnica Domu Helclów (The Mystery of Helcel House). The main protagonist, Mrs Szczupaczyńska – Miss Marple meets Miss Dulska in her character – tries to solve the riddle of mysterious deaths of guests living in the titular nursing home. 'This is a charmingly camp book', wrote Juliusz Kurkiewicz in Gazeta Wyborcza. The duo returned to the character a year later in Rozdarta Zasłona (Torn Curtain). This time, the protagonist solves a servant’s mysterious disappearance. The plot again unfolds in 19th-century Kraków. The third tome of the series about Professor Szczupaczyńska is Seans w Domu Egipskim (A Séance in the Egyptian House) published by Dehnel and Tarczyński in 2018. Kraków is visited by Satan – Stanisław Przybyszewski, and the protagonist has to uncover the mystery of a death during a spiritual séance in the eponymous house on Retoryka Street in Kraków.
Dziennik Roku Chrystusowego (Diary of the Year of Christ), published the same year, was widely discussed, mostly because of a particular editorial coincidence: at the same time three important writers published their diaries – apart from Dehnel, Piotr Siemion and Szczepan Twardoch. A debate started in the media, concerning the role of the diaristic form in the times of blogs and social media as well as the literary value of semi-private notes and the line separating art from the greed of famous writers. Dariusz Nowacki stirred up a hornet's nest in an article, ironically entitled "Blogs in covers or how Dehnel and Twardoch published their diaries":
To sum up: there's not little impertinence in Twardoch and Dehnel's diaries. I don't want to say they are self-loving and shamelessly show their oversized egos. Who doesn't do it nowadays, especially writing a blog?
What I mean is the lack of writers' shame, using the easiest form possible. Is it really true that a year without a hardcover is wasted and basically means the end of the world? As a faithful and benevolent reader of these two great writers, I feel disappointed. Or even more – I feel hoaxed (Gazeta Wyborcza, 03.11.2015).
Łukasz Najder, in his review in Dwutygodnik, was not less critical:
Diary of the Year of Christ is a book with many weaknesses. Too long, filled with totally pointless descriptions of most trivial actions and experiences, infinite meetings, excursions, dinners, worries, gaffes, hoaxes, visits and return visits, soapy, indigestible and boring. It's half a thousand pages about being Jacek Dehnel, written by Jacek Dehnel ("Dwutygodnik", nr 171, 10/2015).
Dehnel's following novel, Krivoklat (2016), a pastiche of works by Thomas Bernhard, usually treated with devout respect, also turned out to be controversial. This monologue of a patient of an Austrian mental hospital was described by most critics as a display of the author's technical mastery, but they disagreed on whereas there's any meaning in this literary joke. Bartosz Sadulski wrote:
Bernhard rewritten by Dehnel is light, focused on the surface and the sound, as if the colour of spitted bile was important, and not its source. Lala's author gives up his style and creative engagement, to manifest his literary proficiency, erudition and aesthetic sensibility, that we've already seen in Saturn. Writing in Bernhard's style is not a gesture of creative emancipation, no matter the level of difficulty - in Krivoklat, it's more of a signal of capitulation, because if the story's and monologue's form is their driving force, and the form is borrowed, the author becomes nothing more than an actor ("Dwutygodnik", nr 186, 05/2016).
In "Gazeta Wyborcza", Dariusz Nowacki replied:
With all the due respect to the original, covered brilliantly by Dehnel, I don't particularly admire Bernhard's work. That is why I am not angried by Krivoklat, but only amused, since it is a great literary joke ("Gazeta Wyborcza", 21.06.2016).
The most laconic summary of Dehnel's writing has been offered by Maciej Robert, who said: 'Dehnel has never fitted the image of Polish contemporary literature'.
Published in 2018, Dysharmonia Czyli Pięćdziesiąt Apokryfów Muzycznych (Disharmony, or Fifty Musical Apocrypha) was a shift from literature into music studies. The book is a collection of texts written by Dehnel for the Muzyka w Mieście monthly over almost five years. The compilation is divided into three parts – forgotten and non-existent operas, crimes committed with the use of musical instruments, and forgotten and non-existent composers.
The strangeness of Dehnel's oeuvre referenced by Maciej Robert may represent both a strength and a weakness: a strength because it gives his works a unique flair, a weakness because this uniqueness may easily turn into a ritual repetition of his own gestures. So far Dehnel has avoided the risk by skilfully juggling his standard themes and motifs, every repetition slightly modified so as not to slide into a pattern which is already known to the reader. This makes one look forward with curiosity to his future books.
Author: Paweł Kozioł, December 2008. Updated by AP, February 2019.
Major Works
Poetry:
- Żywoty równoległe / The Parallel Lives, Zielona Sowa, Kraków 2004;
- Wyprawa na południe / An Expedition Southwards, Teatr Mały, Tychy 2005;
- Wiersze, Lampa i Iskra Boża, Warszawa 2006;
- Brzytwa okamgnienia, Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2007;
- Ekran kontrolny, Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2009;
- Rubryki strat i zysków, (poems collected from the years 1999-2010 and from the new series "Jezyki obce"; Foreign Langauges), Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2011;
- Języki obce, Wrocław, Biuro Literackie 2013;
- Seria w ciemność (a selection from earlier volumes), Wrocław, Biuro Literackie 2016;
- Serce Chopina (poem), Wrocław, Biuro Literackie 2018
Prose:
- Kolekcja / The Collection, Marpress, Gdańsk 1999;
- Lala, W.A.B., Warszawa 2006;
- Rynek w Smyrnie, W.A.B., Warszawa 2007;
- Balzakiana / Balzaciennes, W.A.B., Warszawa 2008;
- Fotoplastikon, W.A.B., Warszawa 2009;
- Saturn, W.A.B., Warszawa 2011;
- Kosmografia, czyli trzydzieści apokryfów tułaczych, Biblioteka Narodowa, Warsaw 2012;
- Młodszy księgowy. O książkach, czytaniu i pisaniu, W.A.B., Warszawa 2013 – a collection of editorials published in "Polityka";
- Matka Makryna, W.A.B., Warszawa 2014;
- Tajemnica domu Helclów (with Piotr Tarczyński under pseudonym Maryla Szymiczkowa), Znak, Kraków 2014;
- Dziennik roku chrystusowego, W.A.B., Warszawa 2015;
- Krivoklat, Znak, Kraków 2016;
- Rozdarta zasłona (with Piotr Tarczyński under pseudonym Maryla Szymiczkowa), Znak Literanova, Kraków 2016;
- Dysharmonia, czyli pięćdziesiąt apokryfów muzycznych, Narodowe Forum Muzyki, 2018 (ilustracje Jakub Woynarowski);
- Seans w Domu Egipskim (with Piotr Tarczyński under pseudonym Maryla Szymiczkowa), Znak Literanova, Kraków 2018.
Translations:
- Philip Larkin, Zebrane / Collected, Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2008;
- Kārlis Vērdiņš, Niosłem ci kanapeczkę, Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2009;
- Edmund White, Hotel de Dream, Wrocław, Biuro Literackie 2012 (with Piotr Tarczyński);
- Henry James, Dokręcanie śruby, W.A.B., Warszawa 2015;
- Philip Larkin, Zimowe królestwo, Biuro Literackie, 2017;
- Jerzy Pietrkiewicz, Zdobycz i wierność, W.A.B., Warszawa 2018.