In 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature as the first Polish female prose writer for "a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life".

[9][10][11] The family lived in the countryside in Klenica, some 11 mi away from Zielona Góra, where her parents taught at the People's University and her father also ran a school library in which she found her love of literature.

[8][20] In 2009, Tokarczuk received a literary scholarship from the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and during her stay at the NIAS campus in Wassenaar, she wrote her novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, which was published the same year.

Growing up in a wealthy German-Polish family in the 1920s in Wrocław, which was at that time a German city named Breslau, she allegedly becomes a medium, a fact her mother begins to take advantage of by organizing spiritual sessions.

Tokarczuk introduces the characters of scientists, the psychiatrist-patient relationship, and despite elements of spiritualism, occultism as well as gnosticism, she represents psychological realism and cognitive scepticism.

Katarzyna Kantner, a literary scholar who defended her PhD thesis on the works of Olga Tokarczuk, points to C. G. Jung's doctoral dissertation "On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena" as an inspiration.

The village, a microcosm of Europe, is guarded by four archangels, from whose perspective the book chronicles the lives of its inhabitants over a period of eight decades, beginning in the year that World War I broke out.

"[24] Translated into many languages, with English version by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Primeval and Other Times established Tokarczuk's international reputation as one of the most important representatives of Polish literature in her generation.

2003), is what Tokarczuk terms the 'constellation novel', a patchwork of loosely connected disparate stories, sketches, and essays about life past and present in the author's adopted home in Krajanów, which allow various interpretations and enable communication at a deeper, psychological level.

While some, at least those unfamiliar with Central European history, have labelled it Tokarczuk's most "difficult" piece, it was her first book to be published in English and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2004.

[30] Ostatnie historie (The Last Stories) of 2004 is an exploration of death from the perspectives of three generations, while the novel Anna in the Tombs of the World (2006) was a contribution to the Canongate Myth Series by Polish publisher Znak.

[3] The novel landed on the short list for the U.S. prestigious National Book Award in the "Translated Literature" category; a panel of judges stated:[34] Through [...] brilliantly imagined characters and stories, interwoven with haunting, playful, and revelatory meditations, Flights explores what it means to be a traveler, a wanderer, a body in motion not only through space but through time.

Enchanting, unsettling, and wholly original, Flights is a master storyteller’s answer.In 2009, Tokarczuk published an existential, noir thriller novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych, Eng.

The main character and narrator is Janina Duszejko, a woman in her 60s living in a rural area in the Polish Kłodzko Valley, eccentric in perception of other humans through astrology and fond of the poetry of William Blake, from whose work the title of the book is taken.

She decides to investigate the murders of members of the local hunting club and initially explains these deaths as having been caused by wild animals taking revenge on hunters.

[citation needed] An epic novel The Books of Jacob (2014, English translation 2021 by Jennifer Croft) is a journey over seven borders, five languages, and three major religions.

Frank, who founded the Frankist sect fighting for the rights and emancipation of the Jews, encouraged his followers to transgress moral boundaries, even promoting orgiastic rites.

Through third-person accounts, the action takes place in present-day Turkey, Greece, Austria and Germany, capturing regional spirit, climate as well as interesting customs.

The story of the Frankists, rendered through a series of mythic narratives, is transformed into a universal epic tale of the struggle against rigid thinking, either religious or philosophical, that ostracize and enslave people.

It was soon acclaimed by critics and readers alike, but its reception has been hostile in some Polish nationalist circles and Olga Tokarczuk became a target of some internet hate and harassment campaign.

In November 2019, Tokarczuk established an eponymous foundation with a planned wide range of literature-related activities to create a progressive intellectual and artistic centre.

The foundation started its operations in October 2020 implementing educational programs, organizing writing contests and public debates, and funding scholarships for young aspiring writers as well as international, residencies.

Those people's postulate was supported by Senator Waldemar Bonkowski of the Law and Justice Party, according to whom Tokarczuk's literary output and public statements are in "absolute contradiction to the assumptions of the Polish historical politics".

Tokarczuk asserted that she is the true patriot, not the people and groups who criticize her, and whose alleged xenophobic and racist attitudes and actions are harmful to Poland and its image abroad.

The prize is a joint undertaking of the German and Polish border twin cities aimed at advancing mutual, regional and European peace, understanding and cooperation among people of different nationalities, cultures and viewpoints.

Particularly appreciated by the jury was Tokarczuk's creation of literary bridges connecting people, generations and cultures, especially residents of the border territories of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic, who have had often different existential and historical experiences.

Also stressed was Tokarczuk's "rediscovery" and elucidation of the complex multinational and multicultural past of the Lower Silesia region, an area of great political conflicts.

Attending the award ceremony in Görlitz, Tokarczuk was impressed by the positive and pragmatic attitude demonstrated by the mayor of the German town regarding the current refugee and migrant crisis, which she contrasted with the ideological uproar surrounding the issue in Poland.