It is the largest literary festival in Central Europe[1] and was named after Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad.

The festival hosts artists from around the world, the representatives of various cultures and worldviews, who create not only literature, but also film, theatre, music and the visual arts.

[2] Its many illustrious guests have included: recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature Herta Müller[3] and Orhan Pamuk,[4] Marjane Satrapi, Amos Oz, Rabih Alameddine, Claude Lanzmann, Yurii Andrukhovych,[5] David Grossman,[6] Paul Auster,[7] László Krasznahorkai,[8] Alberto Manguel,[9] Boris Akunin,[10] Alain Mabanckou, Dubravka Ugrešić,[11] Magdalena Tulli,[12] Andrzej Stasiuk,[13] Jerzy Pilch,[14] and Olga Tokarczuk.

[16] In 2024 it was announced that Markowski and Jankowicz would be replaced by Urszula Chwalba and Olga Drenda respectively.

This prize will be awarded for debut books published in the previous year in Poland by up-and-coming writers.