Poetry: Best Collections of Ukrainian Authors Translated Into Foreign Languages
Over the past few years, the publication of Ukrainian books abroad has finally become stable. Neither the covid crisis nor the full-scale war launched by Russia in Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which is still ongoing, hindered these processes.
But life always wins. So, to mark the beginning of spring, the most poetic time of the year when everything comes to life, we present you the best collections of Ukrainian authors translated into foreign languages and carefully selected by Chitomo, a Ukrainian media outlet that covers book publishing and reading.
Serhiy Zhadan
Two poetry collections by Serhiy Zhadan were published abroad. In particular, the book "tarsi žuvį į juodą krantą" ("like a fish on a black bank") was published in Lithuania. The poetry was translated by Vytautas Dekšnis and compiled by poet and translator Marius Burokas. The publication was dedicated to the Vilnius International Book Fair, where Ukraine was the guest of honour last year. The collection was published by the publishing house that had previously published three of Zhadan's novels: "Boarding School", "Depeche Mode" and "Anarchy in the UKR".
At the same time, the Latvian cultural association Orbita published Zhadan's collection Dynamo Kharkiv. It contains texts from 10 poetry collections written between 2001 and 2021. The texts were translated into Latvian: Ingmar Balode, Jānis Elsbergs, Mara Poljakova, and Maris Saleys. Cover art by Tom Mrazauskas.
Liubov Yakymchuk
A collection of poems "Apricots of Donbas" by Lyubov Yakymchuk was published in Sweden. The book was prepared for publication by the Stockholm-based publishing house Nirstedt/litteratur. The Swedish translation was published with a new foreword by Lyubov Yakymchuk.
Apricots of Donbas was also published in French. Les Abricots du Donbas was published by Des femmes Antoinette Fouque. In January of this year, an audiobook narrated by French actress and singer Catherine Deneuve was also released.
Iryna Tsilyk
The Polish publishing house Towarzystwo Galeria Literacka published a poetry book by Iryna Tsilyk entitled Depth of Field and Other Poems. It includes some of the poems from the collection Depth of Sharpness (Meridian Czernowitz, 2016), but the lion's share of texts are new ones written over the past two years. The collection was published in two languages: Polish and Ukrainian. The publication was made possible by the translation programme Translate Ukraine.
Halyna Kruk
The American publishing house Arrowsmith Press has published Halyna Kruk's poetry collection A Crash Course in Molotov Cocktails. The vast majority of the texts in the collection were written after 24 February 2022. The texts were published simultaneously in Ukrainian and English. The collection was translated by Yulia Ilchuk, Associate Professor of Slavic Literature and Culture at Stanford University, and Amelia M. Glaser, Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego.
The collection was nominated for the Sundara Ramaswamy Prize for Poetry in Translation.
Oleh Lysheha
Last year, Oleh Lyseha's collection The Great Bridge was published. The book was translated into Lithuanian by Vitas Dekšnis, edited by Vladas Braziunas, designed by Greta Ambrazaite, and preface written by Kateryna Mikhalitsyna.
Series of the Library of Ukrainian Poetry "In the Face of War"
Yulia Brovarna. Sepia (translated by Krzysztof Czyzewski, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Yaryna Burban. The Stranger (translated by Katarzyna Szweda, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Yaryna Chornohuz. The Fruits of War (translated by Bohdan Zadura, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Lyubov Yakymchuk. The Production of Tenderness (translated by Aneta Kaminska, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Marianna Kiyanovska. Photosynthesis (translated by Aneta Kaminska, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Anna Maligon. Suturing (translated by Krzysztof Czyzewski, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Lesyk Panasiuk. Scattered Faces (translated by Aneta Kaminska, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Olena Stepanenko. Breathe (translated by Olena Prylutska, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Pavlo Vysebaba. My Generation (translated by Leszek Sharuga, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland);
Yuriy Zavadsky. They Do Not Ask (translated by Janusz Radwanski, published by Fundacja Pogranicze, Poland).
At the same time, 10 books of poetry by Ukrainian authors were published in Poland as part of the third series of the Library of Ukrainian Poetry "In the Face of War". The series consists of bilingual collections of poetry written between 2014 and 2022, published by the Polish Borderland Foundation in cooperation with the Lviv-based Dziezwa Publishing House.
You can also find a list of books by popular Ukrainian prose authors whose works have been translated abroad.