Toruń – Poland’s crime story capital
Gwiazdozbiór Kryminalny Kujawy i Pomorze is one of the fastest-growing Polish festivals dedicated to genre literature, breaking attendance records year after year. It attracts fans of crime and thriller fiction from across the country. The event is held under the patronage of Marshal Piotr Całbecki and President of the Regional Parliament Elżbieta Piniewska. This year’s fifth edition will take place from April 22 to 26.
35 festival events ahead:
- 8 author meetings
- 8 workshops (literary, forensic, and screenwriting)
- 8 discussion panels with creators and experts
- 8 lectures
- 3 special events (a city game, crime poetry event, and gala)
This year, the Toruń festival will host around fifty renowned authors, including two international stars: Scottish crime fiction legend Ian Rankin and Czech writer Michal Sýkora, author of the bestselling series about investigator Marie Výrová. Readers will also have the chance to meet, among others: Katarzyna Bonda, Maciej Siembieda, Jakub Ćwiek, Małgorzata Oliwia Sobczak, Mariusz Czubaj, Anna Kańtoch, Wojciech Chmielarz, Beata and Eugeniusz Dębscy, Zygmunt Miłoszewski, and Igor Brejdygant.
In addition, experts, journalists, literary critics, and online creators will take part in the festival’s meetings, panels, and lectures. Together, they will explore crime literature from various perspectives—from investigative practice and forensic medicine to the process of writing a book and its reception in media and among readers.
A distinctive feature of the festival is the competition for the Crime Debut of the Year. This year, 26 novels were submitted.
A four-member jury (Ryszard Ćwirlej – chairman, Agata Koss-Dybała, Georgina Gryboś, Rafał Moczkodan) nominated the following four books for the Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Award for Crime Debut of the Year 2025:
- “Trzy” – Gabriela Pawlina (Filia Publishing)
- “Matilde” (Vol. I) – R. A. Olek (Książnica Publishing)
- “Zamglone” – Marcel Frątczak (Niebieskie Publishing)
- “Wolta” – Dariusz Gizak (Media Rodzina Publishing)
The winner will be announced on April 25 during the festival’s closing gala. The main prize is funded by the regional government. Previous winners include Grzegorz Dziedzic (“Żadnych bogów, żadnych panów”), Julia Łapińska (“Czerwone jezioro”), Przemysław Kowalewski (“Kozioł”), and Michał Zgajewski (“Strażnik jeziora”).
Festival schedule:
- available on the festival website
- available on the Książnica Kopernikańska website
The festival is organized by the Książnica Kopernikańska in Toruń and the Kult Kultury Foundation, with financial support from the regional government.
Copernicus Library & Press Office of the Marshal’s Office
April 13, 2026