Presents translations of literary works that imaginatively engage pivotal issues in today's Ukraine and express its tribulations and jubilations. Featuring poetry, fiction, and essays by fifteen Ukrainian writers, the anthology offers English-language readers a wide array of the most beguiling literature written in Ukraine in the past fifty years.

AcknowledgmentsThe Kennan Institute/Harriman Institute Contemporary Ukrainian Literature SeriesIntroductionA Note On Transliteration ANDREY KURKOVFrom Jimi Hendrix Live in LvivHRYTSKO CHUBAIThe Womanand ever so slowly looms . . . The Corridor with Eye-Sized DoorsWhen your lips are but a half a breath away . . . From MariaLight and ConfessionOLEH LYSHEHASong 55 MARJANA SAVKABooks We’ve Never ReadFrom A Short History of DanceEaster JazzFor Yann TiersenBoston, April 2007Baghdad NightIn This CityWho, Marlene, Who? Some woman . . . Organs of SenseMy beloved sun . . . VIKTOR NEBORAKFrom Genesis of the Flying HeadMonologue from a Canine PretextA Drum-Tympanum (a sonnet uttered by the Flying Head) She (rap performance by the Kids of the Queenie) Part 3An Itty Bitty Ditty ‘bout Mr. Bazio (sung by Viktor Morozov) FishSupperGreen sounds echo . . . The WriterThe Poet ANDRIY BONDARGenesSlavic GodsThe Men of My CountryJust Don’t Push Me AwayFantasyRobbie WilliamsSt. Nick No. 628The Roman AlphabetJogging YURI ANDRUKHOVYCHThe Star Absinthe: Notes on a Bitter AnniversaryTARAS PROKHASKO 1Selections from FM Galicia22.1124.1130.1104.1207.1209.1215.1216.1223.1215.0124.0125.0127.0110.02 SERHIY ZHADANChinese CookingHotel BusinessChildren’s TrainThe Inner Color of EyesAlcoholContrabandPaprika. . . not to wake her up . . . The Lord Sympathizes with OutsidersThe Smallest Girl in ChinatownOwner of the Best Gay BarThe Percentage of Suicides among Clowns IVAN MALKOVYCHStand up and look . . . bird’s elegyhappiness . . . futile peopleThe Village Teacher’s LessonNothing is right here, you see: . . . An Evening with Great-GrandmaThe black parachute of anxiety grows . . . There is much—I know—sadness . . . The ManThe Music That Walked AwayAt HomeI gaze at my mountains . . . Tonight . . . Circlean evening (goose) pastoralA Message for T. VASYL GABORThe High WaterA Story About One DollarFive Short Stories for Natalie—The Fifth Story—The Last One—The Lover YURI VYNNYCHUKThe Flowerbed in the KilimPea SoupFrom Spring Games in Summer GardensPrologueThe Pilgrim’s Dance, Part OneMalva Landa, Part OnePears à la Crêpe OLEKSANDR BOICHENKOOut of Great LoveThe Lunch of a Man of LettersIn a State of Siege SOPHIA ANDRUKHOVYCHAn Out-of-tune-Piano, an Accordion LYUBA YAKIMCHUKApricots of the DonbasThe Face of CoalThe Slag Piles of Breasts Apricots in Hard HatsMy Grandmother’s Fairy TaleThe Book of Angels the eye of the slag heapdecompositioneyebrowsI have a crisis for youfalse friends and belovedsuch people are called nakedmarsalaAbout The Editor

“…this masterfully translated, lucid, and engaging selection showcases the extraordinary power, vitality, and diversity of writing in contemporary Ukraine.” – Maryna Romanets, University of Northern British Columbia “It’s a great public service to enlarge our acquaintance with this indispensable work, an act of moral generosity. But what the reader will be most grateful for is the sheer pleasure of it.” – Lloyd Schwartz, poet and Pulitzer Prize-winning critic"This book stands as a notable contribution to appreciating major currents in Ukrainian literature of the last generation—an appreciation that, for most of us, is notably overdue." - World Literature TodayFeatured in the TLS (June 22 2018)"Mark Andryczyk describes the longing of many writers to liberate themselves...""Rather the singing the praise of national heroes, [Bondar] records the humour and humiliations of everyday life.""The kind of poetry included in these collections is the antithesis of propaganda; these poetic dialogues are a valuable reminder that there is nothing immutable about Russian-Ukrainian enmity."