Piotr Ibrahim Kalwas
Polish novelist and journalist
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Piotr Ibrahim Kalwas (born 4 November 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.[citation needed]
Novels
- Salam, 2003
- Czas, 2005 – nominated for the Nike Literary Award 2006, the action takes place in Eritrea[8]
- Drzwi, 2006
- Rasa mystica: traktat około Indii, 2008
- Dom, 2010
- Tarika, 2012
- Międzyrzecz, 2013
- Egipt: 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]
- Marhaba, 2022[15]