Meet Aleksandra Tryniecka – Bold Journey Magazine

We were lucky to catch up with Aleksandra Tryniecka recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Aleksandra, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

Looking back at my life, I might admit that it has not always been what one calls “a bed of roses”, but I would also argue that this fact strenghtens my optimism even more. I decided to be optimistic against all odds and then, I discovered that one is capable of creating one’s own reality from scratch – and one is capable of filling it with the most cherished qualities, optimism including. I am cheerful by nature and there is a spark of never-ending joy in my soul that I mean to preserve. My literary character – Bunky – is similar to me in this respect: even though he is slightly grumpy at times (who isn’t?), he is also an optimist, a dreamer and a romantic soul – and so am I and will be until the end of times. I hope to keep filling my books with this type of dreamlike optimism – I believe that if we allowed ourselves to be slightly more optimistic and boldly romantic in our perception of reality, we would bend reality to become exactly what we perceive it to be!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I have been always in love with writing and reading, and my story is luckily revolving around these two beloved activities! I am an assistant professor at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (I specialize in the Victorian novel), a deputy head of Literature Unit in Athens Institute and children’s and academic book author. I wrote and illustrated my debut novel – “Bunky and the Walms: The Christmas Story” (Wipf and Stock/ Resource Publications) in 2021, and my writing career began! Yet, I actually wrote and illustrated my first “novel” when I was four years old, and from this day on I knew that I would love to become a writer. I found the act of writing deeply fulfilling and meaningfully structuring my life. I also noticed that words possess tremendous ability to shape reality and influence the way in which we structure the world and perceive our existence. What a responsible and beautiful power! My literary characters – Bunky and his friends – became such a profound part of my life. Not only is Bunky present on the pages of my novels, but also he lives with me! I sewed him and my other literary characters just before the publication of my first book! Currently, there is a growing circle of readers surrounding Bunky who are connected through their dream for what I call in the novel a “bunkyful life” – the life filled with goodness, nobility, creative passion, little joys, friendship, good magic of one’s heart and optimism as well! While writing my second novel from the series – “Bunky and the Summer Wish” (2024), I realised even more deeply that these are the qualities we need and seek in the modern, often chaotic and unpredictable world. I hoped to convince the readers that they are capable of creating their own, safe, magical place where kindness and peace prevail. My books about Bunky are dedicated to readers of all ages, as each person will find their own narrative within the story. They are also quite long (200 up to 300 pages each), as I believe in diving into a story and portraying the world which is wholesome and crafted in detail. I believe in visiting literary characters in the novel on daily basis as if they were old friends or neighbours. To further bridge the gap between the literary realm and our world, I created a YouTube channel for Bunky (@aleksandratryniecka8940) where the readers are able to watch his all-year-round adventures. We also have a bunkyful website (www.aleksandratryniecka.com), and social media (X: @ATryniecka, Instagram: @aleksandratryniecka), and I would like to invite you to connect with us! I believe that books are not complete without readers, therefore this connection is such an important part of my literary journey.
I also wrote a book dedicated to the lovers of literary and historical studies. It is entiteld “Women’s Literary Portraits in the Victorian and Neo-Victorian Novel” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2023), and it contains the research of the past ten years of my life! All of my books mean so much to me, and I would like to invite readers to reach for them! They are available on Amazon, on wipfandstock.com (Bunky series), on rowman.com (“Womens Literary Portraits…”) and in bookstores.
As I’ve mentioned before, in my daily life I am an assistant professor and find so much joy in researching my beloved literary topics and working with my amazing students and colleagues. I am truly blessed to have them in my life, and I believe that I am deeply blessed to have such a wonderful job! To sum up, in my daily life, I am commuting from one literary world to another.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back at my journey, these three qualities will be: unwavering faith in my dream, imagination and persistence. I believe that these qualities are not only crucial in a writer’s or researcher’s life, but also on every individual journey towards a personal or professional goal. Unwavering faith in a dream is the foundation of success – we all know stories involving amazing projects that weren’t instantly noticed. If not the unwavering faith of a person behind a project, it would never be realised. It takes a lot of faith and courage to pursue a dream, especially in the modern, fast-paced world dominated by social media and glorification of perfection and instant success. Honestly, success is not something that happens from one day to another, and there are many sleepless nights, restless days and often failures behind every successful individual. The most successful individuals are those who keep on walking through failures and sleepless nights towards their dream goal as if nothing has happened. As soon as one achieves a goal, this person becomes glorified and, unfortunately, there are often those individuals who would like to achieve their own success while using this person. And then, assertiveness is a very important quality.
Imagination is the core quality of being a writer. Yet, I cannot think of a job in which imagination wouldn’t prove to be useful, regardless of how mundane it might appear. Imagination is one of the most precious gifts one would ever be given.
And then, persistence is the key. I know that many writers give up after receiving a hundred rejections. And in truth, it doesn’t matter, for if they didn’t give up, they would eventually find their special place and their own audience. Every story has a special place and audience, and I deeply believe so. It only takes time and pesistence.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

As a writer, I often struggle with time management. I am deeply grateful for all the activities throughout each of my days, and I only wish I could be given more hours within each day! While writing, I need to be fully involved in a story – which means that my entire day is dedicated to this single activity. I did not acquire the skill of sitting down in the morning and writing a given number of words and, even though multitasking is unavoidable these days, when it comes to writing, I need to be fully present and detached from other thoughts and duties. I believe that the quality of my work depends upon it. I also want my imagination – and my literary characters – to roam freely without time constrains! In order to resolve this particular obstacle, I decided to write on particular days when I am fully free. This involves winter and summer vacations as well.

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Image Credits

All images belong to my private archive.