Wojciech Tochman

(1969) – writer, reporter.

In the period 1990–2019, Wojciech Tochman wrote reports and columns for “Gazeta Wyborcza” (mainly for the “Duży Format” supplement). For many years, he has been involved in searching for missing people; between 1996 and 2002, he hosted the TV programme “Ktokolwiek widział, ktokolwiek wie” (Anyone Who Saw, Anyone Who Knows). In 1999, he founded the ITAKA Centre for Missing People. In 2009, he co-founded the Institute of Reportage with Mariusz Szczygieł and Paweł Goźliński. From 2017 to 2019, he served on the international jury of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize (in 2019 as chairman). He is a member of the Polish PEN Club.

Tochman published his first reports in the book “Schodów się nie pali” (Stairs Don’t Burn, 2000). Before earning his master’s degree from the University of Warsaw, he travelled to Bosnia with a convoy organised by Janina Ochojska. He later returned to the Balkans over the course of many years – the result of his travels was the book “Jakbyś kamień jadła” (Like Eating a Stone). His next book “Córeńka” (Dear Daughter, 2005), a shocking story about the search for traces of a missing journalist, was written as a tribute to his colleague, the reporter Beata Pawlak, who died in a terrorist attack in Bali.

Tochman avoids judgements and interpretations, letting the facts and characters speak for themselves. His reports are free of embellishments, thus strengthening the power of the message and emphasising the authenticity of the events described. The book “Pianie kogutów, płacz psów” (Roosters Crowing, Dogs Crying) is a continuation of his trilogy about life after genocide, following on from “Jakbyś kamień jadła” (about post-war Bosnia) and “Dzisiaj narysujemy śmierć” (Today We Will Draw Death, about the genocide in Rwanda). Each of these volumes is an attempt to understand whether it is possible for society to heal after mass trauma.

His texts have also appeared in anthologies – for example: “Mówię ci, tam była enklawa tajemna” (I’m Telling You, There was a Secret Enclave) in the volume “To nie mój pies, ale moje łóżko. Reportaże roku 1997” (That’s Not My Dog, It’s My Bed: Reports of the Year 1997, published 1998); “Bracia i siostry” (Brothers and Sisters) in the collection “Anna z gabinetu bajek” (Anna from the Fairy Tale Cabinet, 1999); and “Człowiek, który powstał z torów” (The Man Who Came From the Rails) and “Wściekły pies” (The Rabid Dog) in “20 lat nowej Polski w reportażach według Mariusza Szczygła” (20 Years of New Poland in Reportage According to Mariusz Szczygieł, 2009).

Tochman has been shortlisted twice for the Nike Literary Award for “Schodów się nie pali” (2001) and “Jakbyś kamień jadła” (2003). He was also shortlisted for the prestigious Prix RFI “Témoin du Monde” awarded in Paris by Radio France International (2004), and for the Angelus Central European Literary Award (2011). In 2009, he was nominated for the MediaTOR Awards in the “AuTORytet” category. He received the Poznań Review of Literary Premieres “Book of Autumn 2007” award, the “Pióro Nadziei” media award granted by Amnesty International “for his work for the promotion and protection of human rights” (2015), and the Premio Ryszard Kapusciński (2016). In 2019, he was honoured with the Warsaw Literary Premiere Award for his book “Pianie kogutów, płacz psów”. He was nominated for the Nike Literary Award for the same book in 2020.

His books have been translated into numerous languages. As well as individual volumes, they have also been published in anthologies with translations into English, French, German, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Ukrainian, Russian, Dutch, Bosnian, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian and Arabic.

More information about Tochman’s work is available on his website.