Ms Jane Rogoyska

Jane Rogoyska is a non-fiction writer whose work explores themes of conflict, exile, memory and politics in 20th-century Europe. She has a particular interest in the turbulent period between the 1930s and the beginning of the Cold War. Her books include ‘Surviving Katyń: Stalin’s Polish Massacre and the Search for Truth’ (winner of the Columbia School of Journalism Mark Lynton History Prize 2022), about the 1940 massacre of 22,000 Polish prisoners-of-war by the Soviet secret police, and ‘Gerda Taro: Inventing Robert Capa’, the first English-language biography of the photojournalist Gerda Taro. She has also written a novel, ‘Kozłowski’ (longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020) and collaborated on a variety of projects in radio, film, theatre and photography. Her latest book, ‘Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War’, traces the stories of three groups of people connected to the Hotel Lutetia in Paris before, during and after World War II. It is published by Penguin Random House and W W Norton in 2026.

Jane studied Modern Languages (French & Italian) at Christ’s College, Cambridge University, then went on to study film at the NSFTV in Leeds and the Polish National Film School in Łódź, working extensively as a filmmaker before deciding to focus on her own research and writing. To date she has written four full-length books and collaborated on a series of connected projects in radio, film, theatre and photography. 

As an educator Jane has a long association with the Royal Literary Fund, working with them on a variety of educational projects and holding RLF Writing Fellowships at the Courtauld Institute of Education, the Royal College of Music, the School for Advanced Studies at UCL, and Greenwich University. 

Qualifications: 

·  MA Modern & Medieval Languages, Christ’s College, Cambridge University

·  MA Film Production (Directing), Northern School of Film & TV, Leeds