Poetry Mesa presenting My Soldiers Are the Words I Wield

Poetry Mesa, a global poetry community serving poets and poetry, presents My Soldiers Are the Words I Wield: Three Centuries of Ukrainian Poetry, from Kobzars to Rockstars, featuring readings by three celebrated Ukrainian poets, and background on Ukraine’s rich poetic legacy by an authority on Slavic literature, in engaging discussion moderated by Poetry Mesa co-founders, poets Judyth Hill and Catherine Marenghi.

Contemporary Ukrainian poets Iryna Starovoyt, Halyna Kruk, and Iryna Shuvalova read from their own works and also from major Ukrainian poets from the past, including Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainka, Bohdan-Ihor Antonych, Vasyl Stus, and a clip of the current Rock Star poet, Serhii Zhadan.

Iryna Shuvalova is a Ukrainian poet, translator, and scholar. Author of five collections of poetry, Shuvalova’s poems are widely anthologized, translated into fifteen languages; she has been awarded numerous prizes for poetry and translation.

Iryna Starovoyt is a poet, essayist, and associate professor of cultural studies at Ukrainian Catholic University. Author of three volumes of poetry and numerous essays, Starovoyt was awarded the Key to the City award in Lviv and serves as the Head of the Jury for the transnational literary prize UNESCO’s City of Literature in Lviv.

Halyna Kruk is a poet, fiction writer, literary critic, translator, and scholar of Ukrainian medieval literature. She authored four books of poetry, collected some of Ukraine's top awards for young poets, and is a member of the Association of Ukrainian Writers.

Dr. Vitaly Chernetsky is a literary translator, literary and film critic, professor of Slavic languages and literatures, and director of the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at the University of Kansas.

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The project is part of the subtheme Connect not divide.