WHAT IS IT LIKE, YOUR UKRAINIAN LIFE? KIRA SANTALOVA It’s waking up at 6.30 to go swim in the lake, just nearby. It’s drinking tea from a big metal bottle, and it tastes slightly like coffee. It’s celebrating kids who…
RESILIENCE IN RIFFS Telema and the Rise of Ukraine’s Wartime Metal Scene ARTEM PISHEL From the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the country’s cultural landscape has undergone seismic shifts. Among the most vibrant transformations has been…
THE WAR DOESN’T RIDE THE RAILS HANNA HUMENCHUK The rhythmic clatter of the train lulled me. I rubbed my dry eyes, trying to weave a coherent thought as I stared at the half-finished university essay on my laptop screen. It…
EXECUTED RENAISSANCE: The Generation of Talents Killed by the Soviet Regime ALISA BYSTRYTSKA When Ukrainians talk about Russian imperialism, they are referring to a long- term history of cultural appropriation, repressions, and the consequences of such atrocities. Almost 100 years…
WHITE HOUSE ANNA KO You know, you’re not grateful enough. Mr. President, you’ve got to be tough! You make it hard to do business, Why don’t you want your country in pieces? Mr. President, we’re playing cards, It’s not my…
FATHERLAND PAVLO DYACHENKO War became my father. If a father is the one who teaches you how to hold your face still, to fight tears at a dead January parade, to carry a candle, not for birthday cake but for…
OLEKSANDR KOBZAR TOADS, NATIONALISTS, MANKURTS, AND THE QUESTION OF CAN I LOVE UKRAINE? Ukrainians have, perhaps more than any other people, become keen observers of European politics since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Every election in Europe has direct…
AN ODE TO AN AUTUMN AMONG THE BIRCHES BENYA PYATSKI It’s autumn among the birches, or so I’m told— I haven’t yet seen the leaves turn and fall. It’s cold, but I missed the waves of pink, brown, yellow, red,…
UNTITLED ANNA KO я люблю як ніколи твої щирі очі, запам‘ятаю назавжди ці безсонні ночі. всередині цупко оселився страх, що ніколи більше не побачу рідний дах. кожен день, як наступає пітьма, ввижається, ніби крокує орда. кожна новина сьогодні нагальна, кожна…
THE SCARS ARE SHOWING THE HISTORY MARYNA SANTALOVA The scars are showing the history of the life you had once before. Time is a mystery; secrets are left in the walls. Some things you wish could have stayed, and some…