He was born in 1986 in Pleszew, but grew up and spent his childhood in the village of Lubin on the island of Wolin. He is a historian and Eastern studies expert, working at the Historical Faculty of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. He collaborates with Tygodnik Powszechny and Nowa Europa Wschodnia. For over a decade, he has been traveling across Central and Eastern Europe, observing the formation of new identities. He tries to combine the perspective of forgotten places with history and the world of geopolitics. Perhaps that’s why he particularly appreciates the historical region of Bessarabia.
As a cultural practitioner, he has been active in various fields: releasing music albums, creating educational games and tourist trails, organizing conferences, concerts, and festivals. He is constantly amazed by the world and tries to see reality through the eyes of others.
He organizes and hosts literary meetings and panels on politics, literature, and culture of Eastern regions. In 2019, he initiated the series of meetings “Looking East” in Poznań, in partnership with CK Zamek and the Eastern Institute of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. For several years, he has been researching, translating, and promoting the post-war history of the Wolin, Uznam, and Karsibór islands, developing the Memory Archipelago platform (archipelag.edu.pl).
Piotr Oleksy is the author of the spectacular reportage “Naddniestrze. Terror tożsamości” (published by Czarne in 2018), about which he passionately talks. In June 2021, his latest book “Wyspy odzyskane. Woli i nieznany archipelag” was published.
Reviews
„Naddniestrze. Terror tożsamości”
“Oleksy examines various aspects of life in a quasi-state, about which generally little is known, or stereotypes persist, such as the one referring to it as a ‘Soviet-era museum.’ On one hand, the author outlines Transnistria’s place in international politics, and the reader learns why it is not in Poland’s interest for Moldova to be unified (despite being the easiest separatism issue to resolve in the post-Soviet area), or why Transnistria represents Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest.” – Zbigniew Rokita
„Wyspy odzyskane. Wolin i nieznany archipelag”
“Piotr Oleksy’s book ”Wyspy odzyskane” is not only a tale of cruelty and brutality of the late 1940s and 1950s, a rightfully bygone era, or the absurdities of the later Polish People’s Republic. It extends to the present day, which is exceptionally appropriate, to elucidate to readers this insular, northwestern, farthest corner of Poland, recognizing its suffering, hope, uniqueness, and exoticism.” – Maria Fredro-Smoleńska
* Translated from Polish
Interviews
,,It is a country in the sense that it fulfills most functions of a country. It has its government, postal service, borders, military, police, tax system,” he said, emphasizing that ,,no one in Europe or in the world, not even Russia,” recognizes its legitimacy.” – Piotr Oleksy stated on air
* Translated from Polish