Andrzej Stasiuk
(b. 1960) is a poet and prose writer from the Beskid Niski region of southern Poland. The Walls of Hebron (Mury Hebronu) was commissioned by the Solidarity organisation Wolność i Pokój shortly after Andrzej Stasiuk's release from 19 months' imprisonment in 1984. He wrote the book in three weeks, but Solidarity rejected it for fear that its 'realism' might scandalise its supporters. The work was finally published in Poland in 1992 by Wydawnictwo Gyodnych Duchów and evoked a confused reaction among readers accustomed to associating imprisonment with myths of valour and patriotic sacrifice.
