An anthology of contemporary Ukrainian poetry in Hebrew translation will be published in Israel. This was reported by the book’s compiler and translator, Oleksandr Averbukh.
According to him, the nearly 400-page volume features work by 50 women and men poets — from Emma Andiyevska to the youngest voices.
“For me, it’s more than a book. It’s my Ukraine — many-voiced, alive, indestructible,” Averbukh shares.
According to Chytomo, the authors represented include Oleksandr Mymruk, Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, Ostap Slyvynskyy, Bohdana Matyash, Ihor Mitrov, Yuliya Musakovska, Lesyk Panasyuk, Oleh Kotsarev, Dmytro Lazutkin, Rostyslav Kuzyk, Daryna Hladun, Oksana Maksymchuk, Olha Brahina, Myroslav Layuk, Viktor Shylo, Stanislav Byelskyy, Marta Mokhnatska, Dmytro Blyznyuk, Serho Mushtatov, Vasyl Makhno, Anastasiya Afanasyeva, Marianna Kiyanovska, Seiare Kokcheyeva-Useynova, Yanush Panchenko, Viktor Neborak, Maiie Abdulhanieva, Nikolas Akhbash, Vano Kryuher, Yanis Sinayko, Iryna Shuvalova, Yuriy Tarnavskyy, Olena Huseynova, Kateryna Kalytko, Halyna Kruk, Iryna Tsilyk and Hryhoriy Falkovych.
The book will be published by Pardes. The publisher noted that this anthology is the first Hebrew translation project to present the living, multilingual poetry of several generations.
According to Israeli poet Efrat Mishori, the appearance of Ukrainian poetry in Hebrew opens the gates to an encounter with a living, complex and powerful tradition.
“It is an invitation to a new encounter with the Jewish-Ukrainian space of memory: a space of closeness and friction, neighbourhood and violence, shared history and attentive observation,” Mishori says.
In addition to Averbukh, the team of translators also included Diana Shapiro, Shlomo Krolu, Dolia Pidhaits, Valeriya Valdman and Anton Papernyy. The literary editor was Lei Klebanof.
About Oleksandr Averbukh:
- Ukrainian poet, translator and literary scholar;
- studied at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University (Israel), and earned a doctorate at the University of Toronto (Canada);
- for the collection “The Jewish King” he was nominated for the 2023 Shevchenko Prize in the “Literature” category.