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.

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]
    • Ukrainian translation: "Єгипет: харам, халяль", translated by Les Beley, "Choven" (Човен, "Boat") Publishing House, 2018 , ISBN 978-83-941461-7-7.[10]
  • Archipelag Islam, 2018
  • Gozo. Radosna siostra Malty, 2020[11][12]
  • Dziecko Księżyca, 2021[13][14]

References
  1. "Instytut Książki". instytutksiazki.pl (in Polish). Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  2. "Piotr Ibrahim KALWAS – Polscy pisarze i badacze literatury przełomu XX i XXI wieku". ppibl.ibl.waw.pl. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  3. "Сам собі чужий: розмова з Пьотром Ібрагімом Кальвасом". ЛітАкцент – світ сучасної літератури (in Ukrainian). July 24, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  4. "Czas, Kalwas, Piotr, Ibrahim". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  5. "Сам собі чужий: розмова з Пьотром Ібрагімом Кальвасом". ЛітАкцент – світ сучасної літератури (in Ukrainian). July 24, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  6. ""Коли боїшся життя, шукаєш порятунку в релігійних цінностях" — автор книжки про Єгипет". hromadske.ua. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  7. "Сам собі чужий: розмова з Пьотром Ібрагімом Кальвасом". ЛітАкцент – світ сучасної літератури (in Ukrainian). July 24, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  8. "Czas, Kalwas, Piotr, Ibrahim". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  9. "Nagroda Nike 2016 - nominacje. Oto 20 książek roku". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  10. ""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.
  11. "'Na jedną rodzinę przypadają tu nawet trzy auta. Nikt tu nie chodzi na piechotę, nawet jeśli trzeba przejść 100 metrów'". gazetapl (in Polish). Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  12. "Gozo. Radosna siostra Malty". Lubimyczytać.pl. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  13. "Wyborcza.pl". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  14. "Dziecko Księżyca". Wielka Litera (in Polish). Retrieved January 14, 2021.
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