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Олена О'Лір

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Sunflowers: Ukrainian Poems on War, Resistance, Hope and Peace

by Kalpna Singh-Chitnis (Goodreads Author)

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Олена О'Лір said: " The bilingual Ukrainian/English anthology “Sunflowers” (USA, River Paw Press 2022) edited by Kalpna Singh-Chitnis shows the solidarity of authors and translators from Ukraine, the United States and other countries of the world on the poetic front. Fo The bilingual Ukrainian/English anthology “Sunflowers” (USA, River Paw Press 2022) edited by Kalpna Singh-Chitnis shows the solidarity of authors and translators from Ukraine, the United States and other countries of the world on the poetic front. For the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine is being waged not only on the battlefields, but also in the residential areas and energy facilities of Ukrainian cities and towns, which are under attack by Russian missiles and strike drones; in the occupied territories of Ukraine, where Russians are killing and torturing civilians, forcibly deporting them to Russia and committing other crimes; in the field of gas supply to EU countries, where Russia uses the method of blackmail and sabotage; in the field of Ukrainian grain trade, where it behaves like a thief and a terrorist; in the field of propaganda, where Russia spreads blatant lies about Ukraine and its own so-called “special operation” on Ukrainian territory, but in reality, relentless aggression...

At the same time, the war is being waged in the field of culture, and literature in particular, because for centuries Russia used literature to justify and glorify its aggressive actions and humiliate the peoples it conquered.

Nowadays, many Ukrainian poets, among whom there are soldiers and officers who are just now fighting with weapons in their hands, write about the war, about the heroism of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the entire Ukrainian people, about our painful losses, about our Resistance and our Hope for Victory and Peace. And it is extremely important that their poems become not only their messages to Ukrainian readers, but also the acquirement of the English-speaking readership of the world — and this becomes possible through translation.

Therefore, the Ukrainian literary community, to which I have the honor to belong, is very grateful to Kalpna Singh-Chitnis and the entire team of River Paw Press for their noble idea to publish the “Sunflowers” anthology of Ukrainian wartime poetry to support Ukraine in its holy struggle for its own freedom, and the potent embodiment of this idea in the form of a book with war-burnt sunflowers on the cover! In the past, sunflowers came to Ukraine from the American continent and nowadays have become one of the unofficial symbols of the country. So this plant symbolizes the solidarity of the USA with Ukraine in the best way.

Thanks to the work of the editor, the translators and the publishers, the voices of Ukrainian poets will be heard in the United States and, I hope, in the entire English-speaking world. And I am sincerely grateful for the fact that, along with the English translations of the works of Ukrainian poets, Kalpna Singh-Chitnis also provides the Ukrainian originals. Such bilingualism emphasizes a living connection with Ukraine, with its very soul. I am particularly moved by the fact that the editor committed herself “to reading all submissions in their original language with the help of translation apps and listening to the sounds of the Ukrainian words” (from the “Editor’s Note”).

I am also very grateful for Kalpna’s own poetry, filled with pain and hope, for her impressive translations of Serhiy Zhadan’s poems and the significant contribution of other English-speaking poets.

It was very important for me to contribute to this anthology as a poet and translator. For me, as well as, I think, for all other contributors of “Sunflowers,” this is something more than a literary project. ...more "

Nov 03, 2022 08:28AM · see review