Jane Rogoyska

Jane Rogoyska is British writer of Polish origin, best known for her books Surviving Katyn (2022 Mark Lynton History Prize winner), Gerda Taro: Inventing Robert Capa, Kozlowski (2020 Desmond Elliott Prize longlist), and Hotel Exile (2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction shortlist).

Background

Jane Rogoyska's grandfather served in Intelligence in Poland during the 1910s–1920s and as deputy director of the Bank of Poland at the beginning of World War II, fled with his family on a government train that helped take gold secretly out of the country. Her father was educated in the UK; her mother was British. Rogoyska grew up in London and learned Polish as an adult. Rogoyska’s research into the Katyń Massacre also led to her first novel, Kozłowski (longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020), and Still Here: A Polish Odyssey, which she wrote and presented for BBC Radio 4 in 2018. During her research on Katyń, Rogoyska discovered that her own great-uncle, Ludwik Rynkowski, was one of the victims of the massacre.

Rogoyska has worked frequently with the UK’s leading charity for writers, the Royal Literary Fund, developing educational and promotional content for them and serving as a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at the University of Greenwich (2013–14), the Royal College of Music (2015–2016), The School of Advanced Studies at the University of London (2016–2017) and The Courtauld Institute of Art (2023–2024). She is a tutor of Narrative Non-Fiction on the Creative Writing Course at the Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge.

Works

Books

Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War (2026) Surviving Katyn: Stalin's Polish Massacre and the Search for Truth (2021) Polska Britannica by Czesław Siegieda (introduction) (2020) Kozlowski (2019) Gerda Taro: Inventing Robert Capa (2013) Radio & Theatre Still Here: A Polish Odyssey (2018) 2022 for Surviving Katyn: Columbia School of Journalism Mark Lynton History Prize Longlist, RSL Ondaatje Prize Honourable Mention, Witold Pilecki International Book Award Honourable Mention, Polish Government’s History Competition for Best Foreign Language Publication about Poland’s History 2020: Longlist, Desmond Elliott Prize of the National Centre for Writing

Short Film Awards 1999: for Funeral of the Last Gypsy King: Best Short Film (San Diego International Film Festival) Special Jury Prize (Huesca International Film Festival) Audience Award (International Short Film Festival of Siena 1996: for A Quiet Laugh: Special Jury Prize (Balticum Festival) 1995: for I Don’t: BAFTA nomination MGM prize (Fuji Scholarship Competition)