Grigory Semenchuk
- Ukraine -
Grigory Semenchuk is a poet, musician, culture manager, and activist born in 1991 in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. His published poetry collections include Internal Jihad (2012), More Verses and Songs (2015), and According to the Original (2021). As an editor, he contributed to the contemporary Ukrainian poetry anthology Letters from Ukraine (2016) and co-edited the Australian-Ukrainian poetry anthology AU/UA (2012). His work has been translated into numerous languages, including German, Polish, Czech, Italian, English, Belarusian, Slovakian, French, Romanian, Estonian, and Latvian. Grigory has worked as the director of the NGO Art Council Dialogue and the Festival Authors’ Reading Month in Lviv since 2015. He is the national delegate of Ukraine in the Emmaus International Movement and a member of NGOs 17 and Emmaus-Oselya. Additionally, he is involved in musical projects BRAT, LANDSCHAFT, and DRUMTYATR. Grigory lives in Lviv, Ukraine.
Grigory Semenchuk
Grigory Semenchuk (born 1991) is a Ukrainian poet, publicist, and musician from Khmelnytskyi, currently residing in Lviv. He manages and curates numerous cultural events and artistic projects.
As a poet, Grigory has authored three poetry collections: Internal Jihad (2012), More Verses and Songs (2015), and According to the Original (2021). His publicist writings have been featured in various Ukrainian online journals, and his poems have been translated into German, French, English, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Italian, and others.
Reflecting on his latest book, According to the Original, Grigory Semenchuk notes: “The previous collection contained many rhymed poems, but now it’s all free verse—completely different texts with new themes. They are definitely more mature, more balanced, and more thoughtful than those in the previous book, which included some of my youthful poems. So, a lot has changed overall. [...] I try to capture the current moment because, for me, it's important to articulate it in our poetry and in how we understand what is happening around us.” (Tyktor Media)
In 2021, According to the Original was named one of the best books of the year by PEN Ukraine.
“Semenchuk leaves the impression of a poet who still has something to say in verse on any occasion. The range of topics that interest him hasn’t narrowed since the release of his debut poetry book nearly 10 years ago. Overall, the book According to the Original offers many intriguing authorial twists: the poetry here freezes time and prolongs youth, religious motifs are reinterpreted, and political irony finds its place in the historical context. Even naturalistic-physiological descriptions somehow coexist with lyrical passages,” notes Iryna Stakhurska in her review of Semenchuk’s latest book for Tyktor Media.
In addition to his literary work, Semenchuk is actively involved in musical projects, often blending audio and poetry. Notably, the project DRUMТYАТR, which he founded with another Ukrainian poet, Yuriy Izdryk, gained widespread popularity in both literary and musical circles.
“DRUMTYATR is primarily Izdryk’s poetry. It’s my music. And yes, it started as a duet. Although for the past four years, we’ve had a permanent drummer, Serhiy Lebid, and I now see us more as a trio. We no longer perform just the two of us, we always play as a trio with live drums,” Semenchuk explained in an interview with Ukrainian Radio Culture.
While the group primarily focuses on live performances, they released their EP TRUBA in 2015. Semenchuk describes DRUMTYATR as largely improvisational, making each concert unique, with the participants always preparing something new and fresh.
In 2015, Grigory also collaborated with German poet Ulrike Almut Sandig to create another musical-poetic duet LANDSCHAFT. Their self-titled album was released in 2018.
After LANDSCHAFT, Grigory Semenchuk turned more attention to his solo work launching the project BRAT, which has released three studio albums: V$TAVLYAE (2018), TOMOS (2019) (EP), and The Cultural Shock (2020). Discussing his solo work on Radio Culture, Semenchuk explained: “When I created the BRAT project, I tried to shift the form of poetry a bit. It’s not quite poetry; it's more like text inspired by certain emotions or music. I wouldn’t call it top-tier Ukrainian poetry, but at the same time, it’s not as rudimentary or monotonous as much of today’s global musical poetry, which often consists of just one line. I couldn’t lower it to that level. My brain won’t let me, even though I tried.”
By blending literature and music, Semenchuk attracts a wide variety of audiences and participates in festivals of different formats, including the TRANSLATORIUM Literary and Translation Festival, Meridian Czernowitz, Book Arsenal, BookForum, Kyivska Barikada, Rotterdam Poetry Festival, Leipzig Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair, Salzburg Literaturfest, Festywal Milosza, Conrad Festival, Festival Yi, Svet Knihy Praha, BRAK, Zahidfest, Respublica, Bookspace, Parade-fest, and many others.
On the combination of music and literature, the poet says: “My poems have different shades when they are read on paper, read aloud, and heard with music. Music, in general, is a very close genre to poetry. That’s why in Ukraine, poets actively collaborate with musicians. They need it. They feel something kindred in it. I think all poets, when they write, hope that their texts will be sung, that they will have a musical continuation.” (Kyivdaily)
Grigory Semenchuk is also involved in cultural management. Since 2015, he has headed the public organization Art Council Dialogue and serves as the director of the literary festival Authors’ Reading Month in Lviv. From 2008 to 2011, he coordinated the literary group Western Front of Young Poetry. Semenchuk was also the longtime program director of the Lviv International Literary Festival (2009–2015) and BookForum (2013–2015).
Grigory Semenchuk has also contributed to the creation of anthologies. He edited the contemporary Ukrainian poetry anthology Letters from Ukraine (2016) and co-edited the Australian-Ukrainian poetry anthology AU/UA (2012).
by Oleksandr Mymruk
Poetry
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Alarm / сигналізація
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Ukrainian Tears Ltd / укрдержсліз
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internal jihad / джихад
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Zero Ukraine / Множина України
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