Lecture in language
Wojciech Jagielski (POL)
journalist, correspondent and writer
„A lot of young Afghans leave their country, they do not see their future there. And in that I see our failure.“
A journalist and reporter who spent over twenty years writing for the prestigious Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He specializes in Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus. As an observer and journalist, he participated in armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Chechnya, Georgia and Africa. Wojciech Jagielski is the author of eight books and winnerholder of a number of awards.
„For a long time, I didn't know what to do in my life. However, I was sure I wouldn't become a journalist. But then I found myself preparing exactly for that for years – Oriental studies
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„For a long time, I didn't know what to do in my life. However, I was sure I wouldn't become a journalist. But then I found myself preparing exactly for that for years – Oriental studies prepared me for travelling to Afghanistan, Africa, Chechnya,” says the University of Warsaw graduate. Wojciech started working at the Polish News Agency, inspired by his mentor and friend Ryszard Kapuscinski.
Having studied African studies, he wanted to go in that direction. The opportunity eventually led him to the Caucasus region at Gazeta Wyborcza, for which he worked until 2012. Today, he regularly contributes to the magazine Tygodnik Powszechny.
In the book Prayer for the Rain, he captures his life and the work of a journalist as it was in Afghanistan between 1992 and 2001. "Afghanistan of the 90s was a big unknown to journalists," he says. "I knew I would get there, I believed I could get back, but I had no idea when and how." He returned to the country ten more times, and spent almost two years in it.
Wojciech has won several journalistic and literary awards, including the Józef Tischner Award, the Polish Journalist Association Award, the Bene Merito honorary distinction from the Minister of Foreign Affairs in recognition of his valuable and bold reporting of international issues, and was nominated for the Ryszard Kapuscinski Award and the Nike Award.
