Swiat Ksiazki Bestows Bertelsmann Media Prize On Director Mariusz Trelinski

As the 50th International Warsaw Book Fair opened its doors in the Polish capital last Thursday, welcoming people to Central and Eastern Europe’s biggest convention of authors, publishers and readers, the Polish club Swiat Ksiazki was busy with last-minute preparations for its eleventh-anniversary party that evening. More than 500 guests attended, among them authors, literary critics, journalists and employees, all eager to toast the club on its birthday and witness its presentation of the “Bertelsmann Media Prize” for cultural promotion. This year’s prize went to Mariusz Trelinski. Trelinski, a noted Polish theater, film and opera director accepted the prize from Swiat Ksiazki CEO Heike Rosener, who commended the artist for his achievements in making Polish culture known beyond the country’s borders, by repeatedly bringing great works of Polish literature on screen and on stage. The evening’s other prizewinner was Andrzej Lipinski, who was voted “Employee of the Year” in a survey of Swiat Ksiazki employees. “We’d like to establish this evening as a tradition. It should serve not only as Swiat Ksiazki’s annual birthday party, but could also be linked with the opening of the International Warsaw Book Fair,” declared Heike Rosener, who heads Poland’s biggest media club: Swiat Ksiazki has approx. 540,000 members, sells more than four million books each year, and has nearly 200 employees on its payroll.