She Dreamed of a Humanitarian Convoy

She Dreamed of a Humanitarian Convoy

 

"This is how in all times

all tribes sleep,

waking only from silence, silence is a threat,

during silence, do not open

your door— "

-from "She Dreamed of a Humanitarian Convoy," by Lyudmyla Khersonska*

 

 

Since the war in Ukraine, the Cheuse Center has been raising money to fund writers and small businesses by expat Ukrainians who live across the world in exile. By celebrating literary culture and food, in community spaces, art galleries and homes, we build community and the life force for justice.

In November 2023, we will welcome two Ukrainian poets visiting from Ukraine, Lyudmyla Khersonska and Boris Khersonsky.

Many Ukrainians, their supporters, and translators give their art to our causes gratis, so we can build community and raise funds for other Ukrainian writers. Writers like Kateryna Kazimirova, activist and translator Irena Chalupa, Ukrainian-American poet Nikola Yurtsaba and Katherine E. Young came together in the home of Larry Lawrence and Amy Kotkin in February of 2023 to raise money for this cause. Other events followed, including a magnificent evening at Bloombars, in Columbia Heights, hosted by John Chambers, our community partner.

Now, on 8 November 2023, it is through this community collective, and the partnership of the Lannan Center, that we can bring you our fourth program - poets from Ukraine, traveling to the US - to read from "In the Hour of War: Poetry from Ukraine," edited by Carolyn Forché and Ilya Kaminsky. Lyudmyla Khersonska and Boris Khersonsky will read alongside Carolyn Forché and Ilya Kaminsky and Katherine E. Young will moderate. RSVP HERE.

These programs are completely funded by donor contributions. The literature we disseminate is remarkable world literature. Please help us reach our modest summer fundraising goal of $5000, so we can host these writers.

You can make a gift at any time by clicking here.

“we’ve packed a contraband humanitarian aid kit of war songs and shipped it to Europe America India and China / paving the silk road with great Ukrainian literature”

Iya Kiva, tr. from Ukrainian by Amelia Glaser & Yuliya Ilchuk**

 

***

*tr. by Valzhyna Mort. From the anthology, "In the Hour of War" 

**From the anthology, "Voices of Freedom"

***

Here is our digital bookshelf, created by poet and translator Katherine E. Young, Kateryna Kazimirova and Leeya Mehta: 

  1. In the Hour of War: Poetry from Ukraine, Ed Carolyn Forché and Ilya Kaminsky

  2. Voices of Freedom, Contemporary Writing from Ukraine, Ed Kateryna Kazimirova and Daryna Anastasieva

  3. Apricots of Donbas (poems) by Lyuba Yakimchuk, trans Oksana Maksymchuk, Max Rosochinsky, Svetlana Lavochkina  

  4. In Isolation: Dispatches from Occupied Donbas by Stanislav Aseyev, trans Lidia Wolanskyj 

  5. The Torture Camp on Paradise Street by Stanislav Aseyev, trans Zenia Tompkins and Nina Murray 

  6. Mondegreen: Songs about Death and Love (novel) by Volodymyr Rafeyenko, trans Mark Andryczyk 

  7. Words for War: New Poems from Ukraine, eds Oksana Maksymchuk and Max Rosochinsky; artist videos: www.wordsforwar.com

  8. The Country Where Everyone’s Name Is Fear (poems) by Boris and Lyudmyla Khersonsky, various translators 

  9. Pray to the Empty Wells (poems) by Iryna Shuvalova, trans Olena Jennings 

  10. Paper Bridge (poems) by Vasyl Makhno, trans Olena Jennings 

  11. Eccentric Days of Hope and Sorrow (poems) by Natalka Bilotserkivets, trans Ali Kinsella and Dzvinia Orlowsky 

  12. See also other titles in the Lost Horse Press Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series 

  13. The Voices of Babyn Yar (poems) by Marianna Kiyanovska, trans Oksana Maksymchuk and Max Rosochinsky

  14. The Length of Days (novel) by Volodymyr Rafeyenko, Translated by Sibelan Forrester

  15. Absolute Zero by Artem Chekh, trans by Olena Jennings and Oksana Lutsyshyna

  16. The Orphanage: A Novel by Serhiy Zhadan, trans by Reilly Costigan‑Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler

  17. Your Ad Could Go Here (Stories) by Oksana Zabuzhko, trans by Nina Murray 

  18. Grey Bees (novel) by Andrey Kurkov, trans by Boris Dralyuk

  19. What We Live For, What We Die For: Selected Poems by Serhiy Zhadan, trans. by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps

  20. The Museum of Abandoned Secrets by Oksana Zabuzhko, trans by Nina Murray 

  21. Harvard Library of Ukrainian Lit: Great books forthcoming this year (2023)

Voices of Freedom

January 29, 2023