Krzystof Czyżewski

Krzystof Czyżewski – practitioner of ideas, poet and essayist, philosopher, culture animator, theatre director, editor and translator. President of the Borderland Foundation, director of the Centre “Borderland of Arts, Cultures and Nations” in Sejny, Poland, initiator of the International Center for Dialog in Krasnogruda at the Polish-Lithuanian border. Teacher and lecturer, a visiting professor of University of Bologna and Rutgers University.

 

Among his books of poetry and essays published in English are: The Path of the Borderland, Trust & Identity: A Handbook of Dialog, Miłosz – Dialog – Borderland, A Small Center of the World, Firewords: Tiny Poems, Toward Xenopolis. Visions from the Borderland, and Practicing Utopia. His books, both essays and poetry, are translated into other languages as well: Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Georgian, Serbian, French and Sinhala. 

 

A laureat of Dan David Prize and Princess Margriet European Award for Culture. His book A Small Center of the World was awarded by Tischner Prize for the best essayistic book of the year. His collection of essays “Toward Xenopolis. Visions from the Borderland” won the Ambassador of New Europe Prize.

He is an author of a volume of poetry and photography Żegaryszki, awarded by publishers at the International Book Fair in Warsaw with the title of one of the most beautiful books of the year. The volume Firewords. Tiny Poems (Polish-English edition) are a complement to this poetic cycle referring to the Japanese haiga tradition. In the spring of 2025, the Firewords were presented at the Osaka EXPO as part of an exhibition dedicated to modern forms of haiku. His poem The Clown’s Tear was published as an art book, edited by Ukrainian artist Nadia Velychko, featuring illustrations by Ukrainian artists and translations of the poem into fifteen languages.