James Conroyd Martin is the author of Push Not the River, a novel based on the diary of Anna Berezowska, a Polish countess who lived through the rise and fall of the Third of May Constitution. After working on the project for some years without raising interest within the publishing community, Martin self-published in 2001. Just one year later, St. Martin’s Press purchased the book and released a hard cover edition in September 2003. Polish and German rights sold almost immediately.
The Polish edition, Nie ponaglaj rzeki, was released in May of 2005, became a bestseller and sold out in a matter of months. Anna's story had come full circle: Polish to English to Polish! Pod purpurowym niebem, the translation of Against a Crimson Sky,also became a bestseller when published in December of 2007.
Martin, who holds degrees from St. Ambrose and DePaul Universities, is a longtime English and creative writing teacher at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois. He is working on his third novel, The Warsaw Conspiracy, a political thriller that will complete the trilogy.
