This is the English version of an article first published in Polish: read the Polish original.
On Wednesday, August 19 at 18:30, the Main Library on ul. Kolegiacka 3 welcomes Daniel Petryczkiewicz, a writer, activist and photographer who has long been drawn to what is small, wild and local. The meeting is billed as a conversation about noticing change in nature, developing sensitivity to the natural world and living responsibly alongside it. It is the same building where we already wrote about workshops for seniors and September's National Reading of Forefathers Eve, this time hosting a completely different topic.
Petryczkiewicz, born in 1976, graduated from the first class of the School of Ecopoetry, founded by Julia Fiedorczuk and Filip Springer at the Institute of Reportage in Warsaw. On April 22 this year, the Krytyka Polityczna publishing house released his debut book, "Mała historia znikania. Opowieść o Rzece" (A Small History of Disappearance. A Story About a River). It blends reportage, philosophical essay and personal travel diary, making water the protagonist. A living being caught up in the violence of outdated law and infrastructure.
A river he has fought for over six years
The book's title river is the Mała, a small stream in a valley in Konstancin Jeziorna, which Petryczkiewicz rediscovered and has been fighting for over six years as its unofficial ambassador. He initiated Święto Wody (Festival of Water), an annual creative, activist and poetic gathering held in Konstancin Jeziorna. He is also the author of the photography exhibitions Meandry (2015), #NoBeautyInPlastic (2019) and Drzewa i Ludzie (2021), and in 2022 he received the Gazeta Wyborcza Readers Award.
The theme of disappearing water is not an abstraction for Wilanów. A few days ago we wrote about Wilanówka, the local river, which has been losing water in front of residents during the driest first half of the year in decades. Petryczkiewicz is talking about a different stream, but the same mechanism. A river does not vanish suddenly. It disappears gradually, together with the landscape, the plants, the animals and the habits of the people who live alongside it.
The meeting is part of the Wilanów Library's ongoing series of author talks, held at the Main Library on ul. Kolegiacka 3. It is worth checking directly with the library beforehand for any registration requirements or seating limits.
