The French publishing house “Editions Bruno Doucey” (Bruno Doucey Publishing) is set to release a bilingual anthology of Ukrainian poetry, “Ukraine – 26 poètes en résistance” (“Ukraine – 26 Poets in Resistance”). This is reported on the publisher’s website.
The book will be an expanded reissue of the 2022 anthology “Ukraine: 24 Poets for One Country” (Ukraine – 24 poètes pour un pays).
The new edition includes works by the poet and serviceman Fedor Rudyi and the poet and servicewoman Yelyzaveta Zharikova, as well as 24 Ukrainian poets — Yurii Andrukhovych, Natalka Bilotserkivets, Taras Shevchenko, Olena Herasymiuk, Bohdan-Oleh Horobchuk, Serhii Zhadan, Borys Khersonskyi, Liudmyla Khersonska, Pavlo Korobchuk, Lina Kostenko, Oleh Kotsarev, Halyna Kruk, Lesia Ukrainka, Yevhen Pluzhnyk, Mykhail Semenko, Hryhorii Semenchuk, Ostap Slyvynskyi, Yuliia Stakhivska, Vasyl Stus, Iryna Tsilyk, Liubov Yakymchuk, Ella Yevtushenko, Oksana Zabuzhko and Yurii Zavadskyi.
As noted in the blurb, the first edition was conceived in 2022 after Russian tanks invaded Ukraine. The anthology aims to bring together Ukrainian poets committed to resistance.
“Like Fedor Rudyi and Liza Zharikova — poets on the front line, featured in this new edition — the younger generation belongs to the Generation of Dignity, born after the collapse of the USSR, which has always known an independent Ukraine. Through them, the spirit of the Maidan breathes life into these pages: the spirit of men and women who want to freely choose their country’s future,” the blurb says.
The anthology’s works are presented in Ukrainian and French.
The editors are the French poet and writer, and co-founder of Bruno Doucey Publishing, Bruno Doucey, and the translator and poet Ella Yevtushenko.
The book will go on sale on 16 October. On the publisher’s website, it will cost €22.
In addition, France will host events dedicated to the reissue of the anthology with one of its authors, Liubov Yakymchuk, the Ukrainian Institute reports.
On 2 October at 15:45, as part of the 37th Festival International de Géographie (International Geography Festival) in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, a talk titled “Entendre l’Ukraine” (“Hearing Ukraine”) will take place with Yakymchuk and Doucey.
On 4 October at 16:00, at the 14th festival “VO-VF, traduire le monde” (VO-VF: Translating the World) in Gif-sur-Yvette, a discussion marking a century of Ukrainian poetry will be held with Yakymchuk and Sorbonne University (Paris) philologist and lecturer Halyna Dranenko, moderated by historian and translator Iryna Dmytryshyn.
“Since the start of the war, poetry in Ukraine has become an important cultural phenomenon — a space for expression in the face of the world’s urgent challenges. Many contemporary voices turn to the legacy of the 20th century, in particular the ‘Executed Renaissance’, whose audacity continues to nourish literature today,” the event description says.
In addition to the anthology, the event will also focus on the publication by Bruno Doucey Publishing of a bilingual collection of poems by the Ukrainian futurist writer Mykhail Semenko, “En première ligne” (“On the Front Line”). It was published in October 2025.
The works in the book are presented in the original and in French translation, produced by Yevtushenko and Doucey.
“In this inventive and far-sighted, often provocative writer, poetry fully embraces modernity. But the history unfolding in the Soviet world changes the trajectory of his life. Confronted with war, Stalinist terror, and later the Gulag, he becomes the voice of a generation sacrificed — the herald of a Renaissance cut short,” the blurb says.
On the publisher’s website, the collection costs €16.
Both events are organised in partnership with Éditions Bruno Doucey, with the support of Éditions des femmes-Antoinette Fouque.
About Editions Bruno Doucey:
- a French publishing house founded in 2010 by the writer Bruno Doucey and the writer Muriel Sac, specialising in poetry publishing;
- aims to amplify the voices of contemporary poets and publishes authors from countries around the world, including Canada and the United States;
- in 2018, the publisher’s catalogue contained around one hundred titles with an average print run of 1,200 copies, whereas in France a print run of 700 copies is considered a success for poetry.
About Liubov Yakymchuk:
- a Ukrainian writer, poet and journalist;
- known for the collection “Apricots of Donbas”, which was included in the ranking of “10 Best Ukrainian Books About the Anti-Terrorist Operation” by Ukrainian Forbes and was translated into English, French, Swedish, Polish and Estonian; winner of a number of awards, including the Slavic Poetry Prize (2013);
- in 2022, Yakymchuk performed the poem “Prayer” from “Apricots of Donbas” at the Grammy Awards ceremony during John Legend’s performance;
- in 2025, took part in Poetry International Rotterdam, where she recited the poem “I Have a Crisis for You”.
About the Festival International de Géographie:
- an annual festival dedicated to geography and organised by the Association for the Development of the International Geography Festival;
- founded in 1990;
- aims to use geography as a scientific tool to discuss issues in the humanities, economics and ecology, as well as to observe the evolution of knowledge, cultural self-expression and geopolitics;
- this year, the festival will run from 2 to 4 October.
About “Festival VO-VF, traduire le monde”:
- an annual festival that aims to open up world literature through the voices of translators and to help broaden perspectives on French and other languages and cultures;
- founded by the Liragif bookshop and organised by the Vo-Vf association;
- the festival programme covers literature, comics, theatre, science, cinema, dance, concerts, musical readings, workshops, dubbing and subtitling, and more;
- this year, the festival will run from 2 to 4 October.