Kate Tsurkan

1 week ago | kyivindependent.com | Kate Tsurkan

In Ukraine, Russia’s war of aggression has upended not just borders but the country’s cultural landscape. Conversations about identity, gender, and sexuality have gained new urgency. Women are increasingly stepping into combat roles once dominated by men, while relationships can dissolve as quickly as they form. Many people now live as if there might be no tomorrow.

2 weeks ago | kyivindependent.com | Kate Tsurkan

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian writers have found themselves grappling with questions not just of survival, but of voice, purpose, and audience. Can one write fiction in the midst of war? Can creativity endure under air raid sirens and military mobilization? And what does it mean to speak to the world — especially when much of that world is only willing to listen to Ukrainians when the subject is war?

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Kate Tsurkan

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian writers have found themselves grappling with questions not just of survival, but of voice, purpose, and audience. Can one write fiction in the midst of war? Can creativity endure under air raid sirens and military mobilization? And what does it mean to speak to the world — especially when much of that world is only willing to listen to Ukrainians when the subject is war?

2 weeks ago | kyivindependent.com | Kate Tsurkan

Nastya Rodionova, a Russian writer and artist who has been based in Paris since 2022, had only met gallery manager Luiza Rozova in passing at events before she learned who the 22-year-old’s parents were. Described by a number of people as a “very nice and well-mannered girl,” Rozova is the daughter of a Russian woman named Svetlana Krivonogikh — and, according to investigative journalists, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

2 weeks ago | kyivindependent.com | Kate Tsurkan

In Soviet times, being a pro-Ukrainian artist was dangerous. The Soviet secret police were particularly brutal in Ukraine, given that it was a country with a long history of resistance to Russian rule. Still, new generations of artists remained committed to their culture in the face of widespread Russification. Among them was Yuri Andrukhovych, who, in 1985, co-founded the Bu-Ba-Bu literary performance group. Today, Andrukhovych is one of Ukraine’s most famous and celebrated authors.