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The '''Independent Publishing House NOWA''' ({{lang-pl|'Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza NOWA'}}) was the first underground publishing house in the [[People's Republic of Poland]] (see [[samizdat]]). After opening in 1977, it soon became the largest independent [[publisher]] in [[Communist]] [[Poland]]. In 1989, after the fall of Communism and the change to a democratic political system in Poland, the publishing house changed its name to '''SuperNowa''' and became private in 1993. It continues to publish works to this day, including books by [[Andrzej Sapkowski]].

== Beginning ==
The idea of an independent publishing house was initiated in 1977 among students of [[John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin]], who created their own magazine "Zapis". The name "Nieocenzurowana Oficyna Wydawnicza" ("Uncensored Publishing House") was suggested by Janusz Krupski, Piotr Jegliński and Wit Wójtowicz, and soon after the first two issues of "Zapis" were released. In the summer of 1977, the Lublin students contacted with Mirosław Chojecki, an activist for the Workers' Defense Committee, who suggested that the house should be named "Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza NOWA". Under Chojecki's leadership, NOWA was moved to Warsaw, and in August 1977, its first book was issued, titled "Pochodzenie Systemu" (The Origin of the System). It was authored by Marek Tarniewski (real name Jakub Karpiński, a sociologist, expelled from Warsaw University, in the late 1960s).

== Activity ==
In 1977 - 1989, NOWA published approximately 300 books, consisting of both Polish and foreign literature, as well as modern history, with average circulation ranging from several hundred to several thousand per title. NOWA also printed a number of underground magazines, including “Zapis”, “Krytyka”, “Puls”, and “Tygodnik Mazowsze”. It was organized along the lines of a professional publishing house and had its own printing and distribution. Profits from book sales allowed NOWA to pay royalties to its writers and salaries to its translators, printers, and distributors. In the mid-1980s, NOWA added video and audio tapes.

== Selected publications ==
* Czarna księga cenzury PRL (Black Book of Censorship in Communist Poland), 1977,
* [[Tadeusz Konwicki]], Kompleks polski (Polish Complex), 1977, 
* [[Kazimierz Brandys]], Nierzeczywistość (Unreality), 1977, 
* [[Czesław Miłosz]], Traktat poetycki. Traktat moralny (A treaty of Poetry. Moral Treaty), 1978,
* [[Bohumil Hrabal]], Zbyt głośna samotność (Too Loud a Solitude), 1978, 
* [[Jan Nowak-Jeziorański]] Kurier z Warszawy (Courier from Warsaw), 1979, 
* [[Joseph Brodsky]], Poems, translated by [[Stanislaw Baranczak]], 1979, 
* [[Günter Grass]], [[The Tin Drum]], 1979, 
* [[Witold Gombrowicz]] [[Trans-Atlantyk]], 1979, 
* [[Jerzy Andrzejewski]], Miazga, 1979, 
* [[Venedikt Yerofeyev]], [[Moscow-Petushki]], 1979, 
* [[Tadeusz Konwicki]] Mała apokalipsa (A Minor Apocalypse), 1979, 
* [[Arthur Koestler]], [[Darkness at Noon]], 1981, 
* [[Karl Jaspers]], The Question of German Guilt, 1982 (first book published during the [[Martial law in Poland]]),
* [[Marek Nowakowski]], Raport o stanie wojennym (Report on the Martial Law), 1982,
* [[Stanislaw Rembek]], W polu (In the Field), 1982, 
* [[Jan Józef Lipski]] KOR, 1984, 
* [[Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz]], Rozmowy polskie latem 1983 (Polish Conversations in the Summer of 1983), 1984,
* [[Kurt Vonnegut]], [[Mother Night]], 1984, 
* [[Viktor Suvorov]], [[The Liberators (Suvorov)|The Liberators]], 1984, 
* [[Yevgeny Zamyatin]], [[We (novel)|We]], 1985, 
* [[Hannah Arendt]], [[The Origins of Totalitarianism]], 1988.

== Activists ==
From August 1980, NOWA was headed by Konrad Bieliński, Grzegorz Boguta and Mirosław Chojecki. They were supported by [[Adam Michnik]], [[Ewa Milewicz]], Anatol Lawina, Jan Narożniak and Ryszard Knauff. Pritinting and distribution were controlled by Marek Chimiak, Mieczysław Grudziński and Piotr Szwajcer.
 
After creation of the [[Solidarity]] trade union in August 1980, NOWA was headed by Grzegorz Boguta, Marek Borowik and Marek Chimiak. In December 1981 (see [[Martial law in Poland]]), NOWA was briefly managed by Pawel Bekowski, as all of the previous managers were imprisoned by the Communist government. In autumn 1982, Boguta returned, supported by several other activists, such as Piotr Szwajcer, Przemyslaw Cieslak, Marek Borowik, Jan Walc, Marek Chimiak, Jan Kofman, Andrzej Paczkowski, Miroslaw Kowalski, Marek Kubin, Andrzej Werner and Adam Widmanski.

== References ==
* [http://www.encyklopedia-solidarnosci.pl/wiki/index.php?title=T01183_Niezale%C5%BCna_Oficyna_Wydawnicza_Warszawa NOWA at Encyclopedia of Solidarity]

== External links ==
* [http://www.supernowa.pl/ Webpage of SuperNowa]

== See also ==
* [[Polish underground press]] 
* [[Censorship in the Soviet Union]] 
* [[Eastern Bloc information dissemination]]

[[Category:Communism in Poland]]
[[Category:Anti-communism in Poland]]
[[Category:History of Poland (1945–89)]]
[[Category:Publishing in Poland]]
[[Category:Polish literature]]