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Karol Lagodzki, a native of Poland, is an exophonic author of English-language fiction. His stories have appeared in Invisible City, Storm Cellar, NUNUM, Streetlight Magazine, and elsewhere, and he has won Panel Magazine's Ruritania Prize for Short Fiction. Controlled Conversations is his debut novel.He holds an MFA in creative writing, buys more books than he can read or afford-usually novels and short story collections, though he's been known to pick up an odd book of poetry or accessible science-and gives back to the literary community by serving as a reader for literary journals. Karol's non-writing careers have ranged from fixing stucco while dangling from roofs in Paris to sorting through human cadaver heads in Florida to developing and marketing medical devices for critically ill people in the American Midwest, but his true ambition is to remain a student for as long as he possibly can and make sure more stories make it out of his head and onto the page.Karol lives halfway down a Southern Indiana ravine with his wonderful, unconventional family, a scurry of squirrels, a passel of possums, a gaze of raccoons, a descent of woodpeckers, and a large dog.
""Lagodzki's prose is as powerful as his plot is gripping. A historically astute tale with deep emotional impact.""-Kirkus Reviews ""Get It"" ""Controlled Conversations reminds us of a time-not very long ago-of the struggles, compromises, and corrosive impact of martial law on Soviet-controlled Poland. It is a story not of future Nobel laureates but of regular people with different backgrounds and ambitions in a search for dignity, the freedom to love who they choose, and a decent cup of tea. At this time of threats to democracy in Poland and globally, Lagodzki's novel reminds us of the precariousness of personal liberty."" -Lee A. Feinstein, former United States Ambassador to Poland. ""Karol Lagodzki's debut novel Controlled Conversations, set in 1980s Poland under martial law, is both taut and timely, reminding us that conflicts in Eastern Europe have the power to shake the rest of the world. Lagodzki really knows his characters, and he writes about them with unfailing empathy. The book is riveting, and I loved reading it. I seldom find a contemporary novel this engrossing."" -Steve Yarbrough, author of The Unmade World, Stay Gone Days, and many other novels. ""In his exceptional and precise debut novel, Controlled Conversations, Karol Lagodzki delivers a taut, psychologically rich literary thriller set in morally fraught, Soviet-controlled 1980s Poland. At the core of the drama is the theme of control, both self-control and state control. Each character-however pure of heart or nefarious-attempts to maintain intra- and inter-personal moral principles in the face of powerful external forces. Though Controlled Conversations is a tea steeped in the milieu of a perhaps-forgotten time, it is also a timeless tale that shines a light on values which are, to this day, so very fragile: humanity, decency, love, and justice. With a courageous voice, Lagodzki assumes the mantle of the late John le Carré."" -Fredrick Soukup, author of Bliss, Blood Up North, and Ashes, Ashes ""Karol Lagodzki has created an irresistible story populated by a rich, complex and unique cast of characters whose dreams, desires and circumstances are as firmly and believably anchored in a specific place and time as they are relevant to today. Controlled Conversations is a captivating narrative so beautifully crafted that it will keep you reading to the last page, and once it is over, will make you want more. The story gets under your skin and makes you laugh and cry and wonder what you would have done then, and what you can or should do now. It is bigger than any label, but in the end, it is a love story at once about the limitations and endless possibilities of humanity."" -Elaine Monaghan, Reuters correspondent, author of On the Brink. ""In his debut novel, Karol Lagodzki gives a literary read, layered in psychological insight and suspense, but which is at heart a love story-one fraught with tension and desire and rendered in beauty. As a queer writer, I was drawn particularly to the central relationship of Controlled Conversations, a lesbian love story set amidst the life-threatening tensions of 1980s Soviet-controlled, martial-law Poland, a risky time and place to be alive, but riskier still to be queer and embroiled in political conflict."" -Brandy T. Wilson, author of The Palace Blues.
