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Socialist realism was a doctrine and also a period in history of the polish literature. It was proclaimed during Polish Writers Association's IVth congress which took place in Szczecin from 20th to 22th of January in 1949. From this time socialist realism was an official cultural policy of a communist government. Writers and poets created many books gloryfying Joseph Stalin, communism and Polish United Workers' Party. After Stalin's death there were some critical opinions about such a literature, but socialist realism was still being developed. In 1955 poet Adam Ważyk (a member of Polish United Workers' Party and also former supporter of communism and socialist realism) published a very famous lyric A Poem for Adults which described postwar Poland in a critical and ironical way. Ważyk was strongly criticised for this lyric, but he wasn't imprisoned. It was a turning point and after Polish October 1956 the policy of socialist realism was given up.

During this period there were no independent publishers or newspapers. Writers and poets had to write books compatible to a doctrine. In other case they couldn't publish anything. There were some authors like Zbigniew Herbert who didn't want to glorify communism, so they were absent from cultural life. But most of writers and poets obey goverment's cultural policy and they were describing People's Republic of Poland as a land of happiness and freedom.

There were two generations of authors. The first consisted of writers who were famous before World War II and published books in the Interwar period or during the war. Some were fascinated by a new reality and believed that communism could help workers, farmers and the poor. Because of that they joined Polish United Workers' Party and became political activists like Leon Kruczkowski, (famous playwright) who was a deputy to Parliament or poet Julian Przyboś - diplomat in Switzerland. Authors cooperating with the goverment had a very strong influence on the whole cultural life. A writer and publicist Jerzy Putrament was a member of Central Commitee of Polish United Workers' Party due to his loyalty for the communism.

The second generation was called The Pimpled (name's authorship is disputable, sources attribute that to Julian Przyboś, Jan Kott or Zofia Nałkowska). They were young authors convinced of communism's fairness, debutants believing that as writers and poets they should make all the people believe in Marx and Lenin's ideas. Some of them like Wiktor Woroszylski, Andrzej Braun and Witold Wirpsza dominated literature and had a strong political impact on local spheres. Sometimes even other authors were afraid of their vigour and self-confidence. The Pimpled loose their influences after the Polish Thaw and many of them were forgotten.

There was also a small group of writers, both famous authors and debutants, who refused writing social realistic novels and chose silence. They published books after the end of Bierut's era - Zbigniew Herbert and Miron Białoszewski debuted in 1955. Jerzy Zawieyski, a catholic writer and dramatist (debuted in 1921) was forbidden to publish. Anti-communist authors were often connected to the catholic magazine Tygodnik Powszechny.

Authors wanted to show ordinary people and their daily life. The plot of social realistic stories and novels was usually settled in working places, so this kind of books is called a factory literature. Factories, coal mines, building sites, small towns and villages were typical locations. Some novels showed leading construction investments like Nowa Huta: Początek opowieści (The beginning of the story) by Marian Brandys and Janina Dziarnowska's Jesteśmy z Nowej Huty (We are from Nowa Huta).