Robaków rozgryzać nie wolno (Do not chew the worms)
Not about the front. About the life that remains in its shadow. This book is told from the closest possible perspective—from inside a private world that has been suddenly interrupted, destroyed, or forever changed.
It is composed of stories of people who do not make newspaper headlines, yet it is precisely they who bear the heaviest imprint of violence, loss, and the collapse of everyday life.
The author, Tetyana Kolesnychenko, gives voice to those who usually remain invisible: families, children, people trying to survive day by day after losing loved ones, in a reality that has ceased to be safe or comprehensible. Without pathos, without grand words, without effects designed to provoke quick emotion. What emerges is everyday life—both the life before the catastrophe and the one that begins afterward, governed by entirely new rules.
An integral part of the book is the photography of Maciej Stanik. The images do not serve an illustrative function; they form a parallel visual narrative. Spare, attentive, and free of literalness, the frames deepen the meaning of the texts by focusing on detail and silence. Together with the reportage, they create a coherent story about memory, loss, and the attempt to go on living.
This is a story about mourning, and a sense of normality that must be rebuilt from scratch. About what life looks like “after,” when returning to what once was is impossible and the future remains uncertain. About an experience that penetrates private worlds and stays there for a long time.
“Robaków rozgryzać nie wolno” (Do not chew the worms) is nonfiction of the highest order—spare, precise, and devoid of showmanship. A book that does not shout, does not sensationalize violence, and does not seek to shock the reader by shortcuts. Its strength lies in silence, attentiveness, and a close-up perspective.
This is an important debut and one of those books that stays with the reader long after the final page—because it tells the story of the greatest drama of the 21st century in this part of the world through the lives of specific individuals.
The voices behind the story:
Tetyana Kolesnychenko — a journalist specializing in Eastern European affairs. Recipient of multiple awards, including the Dariusz Fikus Award (2024 and 2025), the Grand Press Award (2024), and the PAP Ryszard Kapuściński Award (2025). Since 2022, she has been reporting on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Maciej Stanik — a photojournalist specializing in social reportage. Recipient of the Grand Press Photo Award (2021), the Dariusz Fikus Award (2024), and the Grand Press Award (2024). He has documented events in, among other places, Syria, Afghanistan, and Nagorno-Karabakh.
