Fifteen years after the 2008 publication of the original version of the biography of Ryszard Kapuściński in Polish, its first English translation reaches us. It contributes to making accessible the profile of the Polish reporter to a broader English-speaking public, who has already got to know the “Maestro” through the translations of his texts as early as the 1980s, as well as his other biography written by a fellow journalist and the apprentice, Artur Domosławski (Kapuściński. A Life, 2012). Biography of a Writer by two Polish scholars and experts on Kapuściński’s work, Beata Nowacka and Zygmunt Ziątek, is an in-depth look into the life and oeuvre of the author of The Emperor, conceptualized as a “creative biography,” that is, prioritizing and tracing the reporter’s continuous development as a writer. The biographers put forward an interplay between literature and life, describing Kapuściński’s work as biographical, predominantly since The Soccer War (1978). Although they refrain from treating the text as a source of biographical information, they astutely read Kapuściński’s texts as his biography and his biography through the lens of his work. This double perspective allows for a nuanced understanding of the relation between fact and fiction, as well as Kapuściński’s adroit negotiations between journalistic obligations and his own immediate interests and passions.

The main goal of the authors is to capture the dynamics of Kapuściński’s spiritual (and literary) development (6), and to present him as a writer who by means of a metaphor and other literary devices, his conciseness, and a feeling of knowledge for words (31), as well as his historiographical expertise (as a trained historian) rejuvenated the genre of reportage and became one of the most prominent witnesses to the decolonization process and the political and social upheavals in the “Third World.” In the design of the book’s narrative, one can distinguish two principles. The first is the emphasis of the authors on the timeline and chronology, more specifically, on the role of delay between the time of an event and the time of recording. The authors find it crucial for tracing literary and professional milestones of the author of Shah of Shahs. The second principle would be the motif of desiderata encapsulated in Kapuściński’s “unwritten books” (223) and the supplementary character of his texts. Nowacka and Ziątek apply this principle throughout the book, creating a metaphor for the vastness of the world that Kapuściński tried to understand and describe throughout his whole life; a life that proved far too short.

An important focus is also given to the role of memory in the journalistic craft. Kapuściński’s war experience in childhood is considered fundamental for his journalistic evolution and the indispensable ability of a reporter to understand the suffering of others. Thus, the readers receive quite a monument to Kapuściński’s persona as this engaged, participative, and empathetic virtuoso of documenting living history.

The core of the book, written in popular science style, is divided into eleven chapters that display events chronologically, as one would expect from a traditional biography. From time to time, the narrative circles back to already mentioned episodes or ideas, accordingly to the subject handled. Those flashbacks may at times be slightly long-winded, just like the attempts at explaining certain situations such as, for example, the lustration process and Kapuściński’s alleged collaboration with the Security Service during the Polish People’s Republic (1956–89). Although some would argue differently, according to the biographers, Kapuściński never compromised his integrity as a journalist.

Biography of a Writer is an attempt to capture the reporter’s work in its pluriversatility (the authors also recall his activity as a poet and photographer), the array of genres he practiced, the various approaches to his subjects, as well as his literary awareness. Kapuściński’s political and historical worldview and the importance of the spirit of revolution find particular prominence here, however, dialogues and intertextualities are scarcely addressed (Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations,” with which Kapuściński did not agree, is mentioned, though). The chapter “Return to the Origins?” is a sort of preliminary conclusion that repeats several of the main ideas of the book, something that reminds of academic texts and may seem quite tedious for an average reader. An academic approach is perceptible. And although there are moments when the narrative loses its momentum, the translation’s lightness in style manages to attenuate this effect. The biography is a definite must for Kapuściński’s scholars and aficionados.