One of the country’s most popular contemporary writers, he penned four books which were nominated for Poland’s prestigious Nike literary prize.
He won the award in 2001 for his book Pod Mocnym Aniołem, charting the alcoholic misadventures of a writer. It was translated into English as The Mighty Angel in 2009.
Pilch was also the author of the novels Bezpowrotnie utracona leworęczność (The Irreversible Loss of Left-Handedness), Marsz Polonia and Wiele Demonów.
He built up a reputation as one of the country’s foremost columnists after he started publishing his work in the Tygodnik Powszechny weekly in the early 1980s.
In 1999, he moved to Polityka magazine and thereafter worked for several other well-known publications.
His 60 felietonów najjadowitszych (60 Poisonous Columns) was published earlier this year.
Pilch was born on August 10, 1952 in Wisła, southern Poland. He studied at the centuries-old Jagiellonian University in the city of Kraków.
According to the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, the writer died in his home in the south-central city of Kielce on Friday afternoon.
The paper cited his wife as saying on its website that Pilch had struggled with Parkinson's disease for many years and had problems with blood pressure in recent days.
His passing was noted by Poland’s Culture Minister Piotr Gliński.
“Jerzy Pilch, a novelist, columnist, playwright, film screenwriter, has passed away," Gliński said, as quoted by his ministry in a social media post.
"He was a very good, interesting writer, a significant cultural figure," Gliński added.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP, IAR, Gazeta Wyborcza