Sylwia Chutnik (born 1979 in Warsaw) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

novelist, writer,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and social activist.

Life

Chutnik graduated in

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well as 100 specializat ...

. In 2018, she defended her PhD at the Institute of Polish Culture at Warsaw University. In 2020, she

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

in an interview for an LGBTQIA magazine "Replika", talking about her long-term relationship with a man, subsequent relationship with a woman, and being a non-heteronormative mother in Poland.

Career

Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

''Kieszonkowy atlas kobiet'' ("Pocket Atlas of Women") was published in 2008. Her second novel ''Dzidzia'' ("Diddums") came out in 2010. She is also a Warsaw city guide and a charity worker. She has published a Warsaw guidebook, called ''Warszawa kobiet'' ("Women's Warsaw") which guides people around the lesser known parts of the city where famous women used to live. She is the chairperson of MaMa Foundation which aims to improve the situation of mothers' rights in Poland. Chutnik is a member of an informal group "8 March Women's Coalition" . In her works, she focuses on feminism and gender issues, Polish culture and history. Chutnik is a member of The Polish Writers' Association. She hosted a TV literary programme "Cappuccino z książką" (Cappuccion and a book), and "Zapomniani-odzyskani" (Forgotten- found). She has been writing columns to a weekly magazine "Polityka" since 2016. Chutnik writes a column in "Gazeta Stołeczna" and a women's magazine "Pani".

Awards

Chutnik was recognized by many institutions for her literary achievements as well as social work. She was awarded by

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

for her social work. It is a so-called social workers' Nobel. She is a laureate of the ''Lady of Warsaw'' 2007 competition, and won the ''Wawoactive'' 2008 contest. Chutnik has been nominated for the

Nike Literary Award The Nike Literary Award (, pronounced ) is a literary prize awarded each year for the best book of a single living author writing in Polish and published the previous year. It is widely considered the most important award for Polish literature. ...

three times so far. In 2009, she became the laureate of

Paszport Polityki Paszport Polityki (Polityka's Passport) is an annual Polish cultural award presented by the weekly magazine '' Polityka'' since 1993. It is presented in six major categories: literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written wor ...

Award for her literary works. She became a scholarship holder of Homines Urbani (2008), a laureate of the Lithuanian Books Institute (2009), a laureate of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (2010), the City of Warsaw (2010), and the

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

(2010).

Books

* ''Kieszonkowy atlas kobiet'', (Pocket Atlas of Women) Kraków 2008 (translated into

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, German,

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

, Russian, Slovak) * ''Dzidzia'', (Diddums) Warszawa 2009 * ''Warszawa kobiet'', (Women's Warsaw) Warszawa 2011 * ''Mama ma zawsze rację'', (Mum's Always Right), Warszawa 2012 * ''Cwaniary'', (The Hustlers), Warszawa 2012 * ''W krainie czarów'', (In the World of Magic), Kraków 2014 * ''Jolanta'', Kraków 2015 * ''Smutek cinkciarza,'' (The Sadness of a Shylock), Warszawa 2016. *''Kobiety, które walczą: Rozmowy z zawodniczkami sztuk walki'', (Women Who Fight: Interviews With Martial Arts Athletes), Warszawa 2017 *''Dino Bambino,'' 2018 (with illustrations by Mirella von Chrupek) *''Miasto zgruzowstałe. Codzienność Warszawy w latach 1954- 1955,'' Wrocław 2020 *''Tyłem do kierunku jazdy'', 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chutnik, Sylwia Polish women novelists 1979 births Living people University of Warsaw alumni 21st-century Polish novelists 21st-century Polish women writers Polish feminists Polish LGBTQ novelists