Piotr Ibrahim Kalwas
Piotr Ibrahim Kalwas (born November 4, 1963)[1] is a Polish novelist, journalist, and twice nominated for the Nike Literary Award.
Biography
Piotr Ibrahim Kalwas was born in 1963 in Powiśle, Warsaw to a family of Catholics in Poland. His father is a former Minister of Justice of Poland, Andrzej Kalwas.[2] In his youth, Piotr Kalwas was a member of the youth punk subculture. He studied at a university, but was expelled, and earned a living by taking simple jobs, most notably when he worked as an illegal immigrant construction painter in Norway for 3 years and where he met his wife, Agata. Then he became involved in business, most notably as a restaurant manager in Warsaw, and he was among the writers of the popular Polish 1990s series "The World According to the Kiepski Family"[3] (in his book, "Salam", Kalwas described "The World According to the Kiepski Family" as "the most intense show in the history of Polish television "[4]).
In 2000, after long journeys to Asia and Africa, Kalwas converted to Islam and assumed the middle name of "Ibrahim".[5] According to Kalwas himself, his religious views are close to Sufism, although he is not Sufi.[6] In 2008, he moved to Egypt with his wife and son, and lived for 8 years in Alexandria from 2008 until 2016. Kalwas's life and work in Egypt became the main theme of his literary work – reportages for Polish media and several books. Kalwas lived in Egypt for eight years, but after publishing the book "Egypt: Haram, Halal" he left the country because of concerns about personal and family safety, considering the critical nature of his books and reports about Egyptian society, even the Egyptian government in some instances.[7]
He currently lives in Gozo, Malta. He's married and has a son, Hasan Kamil Kalwas.
Novels
- Salam, 2003
- Czas, 2005 – nominated for the Nike Literary Award 2006, the action takes place in Eritrea[8]
- Drzwi, 2006
- Rasa mystica: treatise around India, 2008
- Dom, 2010
- Tarika, 2012
- Międzyrzecz, 2013
- Egypt: Haram Halal, 2015 (reportage) – nominated for the Nike Literary Award 2016[9]
- Archipelag Islam, 2018
References
- "Instytut Książki". instytutksiazki.pl (in Polish). Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- "Piotr Ibrahim KALWAS – Polscy pisarze i badacze literatury przełomu XX i XXI wieku". ppibl.ibl.waw.pl. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- "Сам собі чужий: розмова з Пьотром Ібрагімом Кальвасом". ЛітАкцент – світ сучасної літератури (in Ukrainian). July 24, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- "Czas, Kalwas, Piotr, Ibrahim". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- "Сам собі чужий: розмова з Пьотром Ібрагімом Кальвасом". ЛітАкцент – світ сучасної літератури (in Ukrainian). July 24, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- ""Коли боїшся життя, шукаєш порятунку в релігійних цінностях" — автор книжки про Єгипет". hromadske.ua. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- "Сам собі чужий: розмова з Пьотром Ібрагімом Кальвасом". ЛітАкцент – світ сучасної літератури (in Ukrainian). July 24, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- "Czas, Kalwas, Piotr, Ibrahim". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- "Nagroda Nike 2016 - nominacje. Oto 20 książek roku". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- ""Egypt: Haram, Halal" by Piotr Ibrahim Kalwas – on the shelves of Ukrainian bookstores from January". Choven – Publishing House. November 20, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2019.