Wojciech Jagielski (POL)

„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.