Life, Love, and Poetry at the Time of War: A conversation with Ukrainian Writer Lyuba Yakimchuk

Born and raised in the Luhansk region in a coal miner’s family, Lyuba and her relatives survived the daily threat of violence during the 2014 hybrid Russian war in Ukraine but lost their home and became refugees. She is currently based in Kyiv. A poet, screenwriter, playwright, songwriter, and performance artist, she is the author of several poetry collections, including Apricots of Donbas and Like Fashion. Her poems have been translated into twenty-five languages. The French edition of Apricots of Donbas was shortlisted for the prestigious Prix Mallarmé and recorded by Catherine Deneuve. The collection also received the International Poetic Award of the Kovalev Foundation in New York and was listed among Forbes Ukraine’s Top 10 books about war. She is also the author of the plays The Wall and Schrödinger’s Cat, and the screenplay for the feature film Slovo House. Yakimchuk co-authored the libretto for the musical Freedom Letters with Mary Brnley (Ireland, 2023) and contributed as a songwriter and spoken word artist to the album Ukrainian Songs of Love and Hate (2022).

 

The event will include a poetry reading.