Nest of Worlds

Marek S. Huberath has been a major figure in Polish science fiction since his debut in 1987 with the short story "Wrocieeś Sneogg, wiedziaam . . ." (recently translated into English by Michael Kandel as "Yoo Retoont Sneogg, Ay Noo..."). Confronting moral and philosophical issues rather than future technical possibilities, he is heir to the titans of Soviet-era Eastern European literary science fiction.

A three-time winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award (the Polish equivalent of the Hugo), Huberath is also a professor of biophysics and biological physics at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, and an avid mountain climber, who has said that he feels most comfortable with the air under his feet.

Michael Kandel is perhaps best known for his translation of major works—including Fiasco, His Master's Voice, The Cyberiad, A Perfect Vacuum, and The Futurological Congress—of Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem. He also worked as an editor at Harcourt, where he acquired authors Jonathan Lethem, Ursula K. Le Guin, James Morrow, and others. Kandel was a Fulbright student in Poland, 1966-67; received his PhD in Slavic at Indiana University; taught Russian literature at George Washington University; wrote a few articles on Lem; and has written science fiction, short stories, and a few novels (published by Bantam, St. Martin's); and is presently an editor at the Modern Language Association. Kandel's has recently translated works by Jacek Dukaj and Andrzej Sapkoswki, and he is the editor and translator of the anthology A Polish Book of Monsters.