Andriy Kurkov, Harriman’s 2023 Writer in Residence, spoke at the institute in November about life for writers in Ukraine throughout the Soviet period, during the 1990s, and now in wartime. Editor-in-Chief Ann Cooper followed up with him about the war’s impact on literature.

Cooper: How has Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine changed the atmosphere and the work for Ukrainian writers?

Andriy Kurkov: Russian aggression has created many problems both for the publishing world and for the literary process. At the very beginning of the war, the largest printing plants, which also contained large supplies of paper for future books, were bombed by Russian artillery and missiles in Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region. Many books prepared for publication before the full-scale invasion were never released.

Most Ukrainian writers practically stopped writing fiction, switching to essays and journalism. Many have still been unable to work on novels. All publishing houses, without exception, began to publish mainly documentary prose about the war.

Most Ukrainian writers practically stopped writing fiction, switching to essays and journalism. Many have still been unable to work on novels. All publishing houses, without exception, began to publish mainly documentary prose about the war.

The priorities of Ukrainian readers also changed. Before the war, readers gravitated toward Ukrainian translations of Western bestsellers. Now the books in demand are Ukrainian classical literature: prose and poetry by previously little-known Ukrainian writers of the 1920s–30s executed by the Stalinist regime, modern patriotic and war poetry, and books on the history of Ukraine. ◆

Featured photo (at the top): Photo courtesy of Andriy Kurkov