The book “Carpathia” in the the Wawrzyniec Żuławski Mountain Book of the Year Competition

The publication by Prof. Maciej Janowski, published by ICC, has been shortlisted for the Wawrzyniec Żuławski Mountain Book of the Year Award. The award is presented as part of the Mountain Literature Festival and the Andrzej Zawada Mountain Festival in Lądek-Zdrój.

Fifty-one publications across six categories have been shortlisted for this year’s competition. Prof. Maciej Janowski’s book “Carpathia” has been shortlisted in the category “Mountain biographies, essays, academic and popular science works”. The winners of the competition will be announced on 24 August 2026, and the awards ceremony will take place during the Mountain Festival in Lądek-Zdrój, from 3 to 6 September 2026. This is yet another nomination for Prof. Maciej Janowski’s book on the Carpathians, published by ICC Publishing House (see also: ICC publication nominated for the main prize in the Ambassador of New Europe 2025 competition).

The book “Carpathia” covers the entire Carpathian range — from Bratislava to the Iron Gate, and from the Bieszczady to the Bihor Mountains. The region’s colourful history is traced from prehistory to the present day. Professor Maciej Janowski describes the Carpathian region as a place where people and the landscape share a common destiny, and where history unfolds to the rhythm of the valleys and mountain passes. The author paints a picture of a multi-ethnic area where, over the centuries, various ethnic and religious groups have lived side by side – Poles, Rusyns, Slovaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Czechs, Jews and Germans. In this exceptional book, “mountainousness” becomes a cultural category that reveals how ways of thinking and living are shaped by nature, beliefs and art.

“Carpathia” by Prof. Maciej Janowski at the ICC bookshop

The twenty-third volume in the Library of Central Europe series.

The publication is available in print and as an e-book.