Writing from Ukraine: Fiction, Poetry and Essays since 1965

Ukrainian Studies

by Mark Andryczyk (editor)

A selection of fifteen of Ukraine's most important, dynamic and entertaining contemporary writers

Under USSR rule, the subject matter and style of literary expression in Ukraine was strictly controlled and censored. But once Ukraine gained independence in 1991 its literary scene flourished, as the moving and delightful poems, essays and extracts collected here show.

There are fifteen authors included in this book, both established and emerging, and in this anthology we see them grappling with history and the future, with big questions and small moments.

From essays about Chernobyl to poetry about Robbie Williams, from fiction discussing Jimmy Hendrix live in Lviv to underground Ukrainian poetry of the Soviet era, WRITING FROM UKRAINE offers a unique window into a rich culture, a chance to experience a particularly Ukrainian sensibility and to celebrate Ukraine's nationhood, as told by its writers.

Genres: Ukraine, Poetry, Fiction, Anthologies, Essays, Literature

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2017

Reviews

[John Hatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short stories, essays and poetry is a perfect introduction to contemporary Ukrainian authors. It has already made we hope that more literature from Ukraine will soon be translated.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a heads up: the selection from Yuri Vynnychuk's novel Malva Landa ( Мальва Ланда , trans. Michael M. Naydan) depicts a grown man's pedophiliac fantasies about his eight-year-old niece and other prepubescent girls and it's exactly as gross as you would expect. I am honestly baffled as to why this is the part the editors chose for the anthology, especially this will be most readers' first exposure to Vynnychuk. Hasn't exactly encouraged me to seek out anything else by him.

Oleksandr Boichenko's author photograph has the Philadelphia City Hall in the background, which I thought was kind of funny. You can also make out a USPS truck. I wonder what his connection to our region is. I liked his comparison in "In a State of Siege" (trans. Mark Andryczyk) between an ordinary citizen fighting corruption and authoritarianism and a scientist persevering in finding a cure for a deadly plague even knowing his efforts may prove useless. "[R]egardless who ends up winning in the end, a person, if he or she wants to remain a human being, cannot, in any circumstances, take the side of the plague." Although I disagree with his contention that in America we at least have rules when it comes to political power plays, while Yanukovych and his ilk were basically Chaotic Evil. The Republicans seem headed in that direction.

Sample poem: "I Have a Crisis for You" by Lyuba Yakimchuk

you lit up a cigarette
but it wouldn't burn
it was summer
and girls would light up from any passerby
but I didn't light up for you anymore

"our love's gone missing," I explain to a friend
it vanished in one of the wars
we waged in our kitchen
"replace the word war with crisis," he says
because crisis is something everyone has from time to time

do you remember the second world crisis?
respectively, the first one as well
the civil crisis - to each his own
I forgot about the cold crisis
it seems there were two of them
also the liberation crisis should be mentioned
it sounds so good -
the liberation crisis of 1648-1657
write it down in textbooks
a crisis that liberates
releases forever,
my great-grandfather died in the second world crisis
possibly at the hand of my other great-grandfather
or his machine gun
or his battle tank
but it's unclear
how they fought this crisis with each other
or whether it was the crisis itself that killed them, like a plague
for no one is to blame for a crisis
it is inexorable as death
and when our own domestic war
turns into a crisis
does it get better?
does it hurt less?
do birds return to us from the south
or maybe, do we go to meet them?
why is our language like that -
we lack words to describe our feelings
only crisis and love are left
as antonyms

but if love is so complicated
with these blazes and smoldering
like blood and pain
(and blood is not at all like one's periods
but some new feeling of mine)
(and pain is yours)
if love is made up of two different feelings
then soon love will also be called crisis

I have a crisis for you darling,
let's get married

we've got a crisis
we'd better split up

Translated by Svetlana Lavochkina

[Mateusz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful volume! The translations are great, but I am not too keen on the selection of texts.

[rūta · Rating 5 out of 5]

ridiculously gorgeous collection of writings about love, faith, relationships, fate, war, sadness, and many other humanly things. slava Ukraine

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifteen Ukrainian writers share their thoughts and feelings in this thought provoking collection of Fiction, Poetry and Essays which give range to all emotions and all expressions.

With a comprehensive introduction we go into the body of the work with, at the start of each section, a short vignette which describes the contributor. With none of the writers familiar to me I have been able to dip into and out of their individual works, finding much to enjoy, ponder and peruse. Some of the content fired my imagination more than others but each have been thoughtfully translated and are very readable. The book is nicely sectioned and I particularly liked the the tree illustration which starts each section, the idea of a tree slowly developing just as the contributors of this volume have been allowed to grow and develop.

Needless to say, knowing the political background and the seriousness of the current conflict in Ukraine, the county and its people are very much in the hearts and minds of everyone. And as they experience their current fight for survival, in this edition of Fiction, Poetry and Essays there is much to learn about the bravery, and resilience of this proud country.

Just to note that Writing from Ukraine was previously published as The White Chalk of Days.

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing from Ukraine is a great introduction to Ukrainian writers and poets translated into English. This collection has been published previously but has been reissued with Penguin publishing it this time round. Hopefully this is the first of more translated Ukrainian writing into English with big publishers supporting publication.

The Ukrainian people have a wonderfully dry, black sense of humour and it comes across in many of the poems, articles and fiction. I’m not really a poetry person but I loved Andriy Bondar’s poem Robbie Williams for its take on being an outsider in a foreign land and its jokes. (Second is the poem The Men of My Country for its sarcasm). I always enjoy Andrey Kurkov’s writing and the excerpt from Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv sets the tone for the variety of stories to come – a bit different, a bit odd, but generally very engrossing. I did like Yuri Andrukhovych’s piece on Prypiat (the town built for the workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, now of course abandoned and eerie). Serhiy Zhadan’s short story Owner of the Best Gay Bar is madcap, funny and outlandish – until you remember that Kharkiv is a very, very different place in 2023. Some of the stories are serious, talking about the Euromaidan and government corruption; others poke fun at some of the more ridiculous parts of life.

It’s a great introduction to writers from Ukraine. I would love to see more of their works in English, in addition to more women represented. The Ukrainian voice is unique, both past and present, for sharing the pain and the history of Ukraine under the Soviet regime, freedom and war. All with a sense of humour.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

[Donald Busby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was first published in 2017 so pre-invasion but certainly reflecting the anxieties of the writers. 14 writers and a range of story and poetry formats that gives a clear oblique experience of a very different culture and cultural outlook. Some of writing left me bewildered by its strangeness or bountiful political references but I found lots of the stories quite thrilling and touching and very funny - often quite surreal or absurd and so routed in a deeply communal society. I really enjoyed this view into very different world. Favourites were: Andriy Bondar, Yuri Andrukhovych, Taras Prokhasko, Vasyl Gabor and Yuri Vynnychuk and I’d look out for more writing from them.

[Andréa Lechner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating anthology of Ukrainian writing but, as such, somewhat uneven. Poetry does not really work in translation, IMHO, so although I tried to read a few of the poems, I ended up moving on to the prose sections.
Some of the writing is amazing, but it is something very personal in terms of style and subject matter.
I particularly enjoyed the writers translated by Mark, the collection's editor and compiler, as he really appears to understand the importance of reading something which will sound right in English rather than clunky through wanting to preserve the original at all costs. A selection well worth dipping into.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Juvenile texts and horrid, clunky translations. The selection is baffling. Was the editor trying to cause the greatest embarrassment to these authors? There were literally a few texts that were passable.

[Anna Dallaire · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Eve Flett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing poetry. Available to browse at whitechalkofdays.com :)

[Beth Medvedev]

Interesting and random assortment of variable quality.

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting overview of a literary world I did not know anything about.

[Britt-marie Ingdén-Ringselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

En alldeles förträfflig antologi där 11 av de intressantaste moderna ukrainska berättarna och poeterna presenteras i översättning till engelska - rekommenderas!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it hard to get into this collection of modern writing from the Ukraine, but this probably says more about me that this book.