Is writing possible when one’s country is at war? What can it achieve, and what are its limits? What is the relationship of writing to grief, loss, violence, and peace? In 2022, when the stakes have never been higher, what does it mean to try to write Ukraine? A panel of Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American authors convene to discuss.
About the speakers:
Sonya Bilocerkowycz is a Ukrainian-American writer. She is the author of On Our Way Home From the Revolution (2019), winner of the Gournay Prize for a debut essay collection. Bilocerkowycz has been published in Guernica, Ninth Letter, the New York Review of Books, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She was named a 2022 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow.
Artem Chapeye has authored five novels and four books of creative nonfiction, and is a co-author of a book of war reportage. A four-time finalist of the BBC Book of the Year Award, his recent collection The Ukraine was one of three finalists in the award’s new nonfiction category in 2018. His novel Migrant was published in French in 2021, The Ukraine is forthcoming in English in 2023. In March 2022, Artem voluntarily enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, where he is still serving.
Irena Karpa is a writer and journalist who has authored twelve books of prose and one children’s book. She is also the frontwoman of the alternative music group Qarpa. Karpa has contributed to Vanity Fair and Deutsche Welle, and is a frequent guest on French broadcasting. She has been leading online therapeutic writing courses during the war.
Olesya Khromeychuk is a historian and writer. She has taught the history of East-Central Europe at several British universities, and written for the New York Review of Books, Der Spiegel, the Los Angeles Review of Books, openDemocracy and Prospect.. Khromeychuk is the author of The Death of a Soldier Told by His Sister (2022) and “Undetermined” Ukrainians. Post-War Narratives of the Waffen SS “Galicia” Division (2013). She is currently the Director of the Ukrainian Institute London.
Lyuba Yakimchuk is a poet, playwright and screenwriter. She is the author of several full-length poetry collections, including Apricots of Donbas, which has been translated into more than twenty languages. She is also the celebrated author of two film scripts and two plays. She is the first-ever poet performer at the Grammy Awards: in 2022 she performed her poem, “Prayer,” as part of the Free piece by John Legend dedicated to Ukraine.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the panel will take place in the Reading Room, the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event is organized with the help of the Tompkins Agency for Ukrainian Literature in Translation.
Advance registration required.
