Tomasz Garbol

Dr hab. Tomasz Garbol is assistant professor at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) and serves within the Center for Research on Religious Literature, where he acted as Director from 2014 to 2022. He is an active scholar, editor and organizer specialising in the intersection of literature, religion and Polish culture.

Education: While the provided text does not list his degrees explicitly, his Polish title of "dr hab." signifies a post-doctoral habilitation, the standard qualification for an assistant professorship in Poland.

Research interests revolve around the dialogue between literature and religion in modernity, with particular emphasis on the works of Czesław Miłosz, Zbigniew Herbert, Karol Wojtyła (John Paul II) and contemporary Polish poetry. He explores themes such as post-secularism, eucatastrophe, mystical experience, and the ethical imagination.

Across more than a decade his publications display a consistent trajectory: deep textual exegesis of canonical Polish authors, comparative readings with global Christian writers (Hopkins, Stevens, Tokarczuk), and theoretical reflection on the condition of religious literature after secularisation.

Scientific awards & honours: Although no specific prizes are listed, Garbol’s repeated habilitation-level achievements, monographs with university presses, and invitations to keynote major international conferences indicate peer recognition.

Grants & projects: He has been principal investigator or contractor on several large grants financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, including "Sacrum in Polish 20th-century Literature – Encyclopedia" and "Literature and Religion – Challenges of the Secular Age". He has also tutored in the "Academy of Young Humanists" outreach programme.

Editorial & organisational roles: Long-standing member of the editorial college of Ethos. Quarterly of the John Paul II Institute KUL, reviewer for In Gremium and other journals, and organiser of the recurring national conference series "Literature and Religion".