Who is afraid of Angela Carter? On the Reception of Her Work in Poland

This article examines Angela Carter's publishing, critical, and audience reception in Poland over more than three decades. Despite Carter's international reputation, her presence in the Polish literary market has been limited and uneven. The first Polish translation appeared in 1988, and subsequent editions — covering five book titles — were released sporadically through 2000, followed by a two-decade hiatus until the 2023 publication of a major short story collection translated by Magda Heydel. Critical reception has been sparse: fewer than twenty reviews have appeared in the Polish press, and scholarly engagement has been largely confined to English studies departments, with only two Polish monographs on her work. Audience response, reconstructed partly from online platforms, reveals a niche readership. Carter's feminist and postmodern aesthetics never achieved the broader cultural penetration that comparable authors such as Margaret Atwood managed. The article traces the likely structural and cultural factors behind this reception without claiming to offer definitive explanations.