I am a Ukrainian writer and curator
I was born in the industrial city of Zaporizhzhia in the South-East of Ukraine three years before the collapse of the Soviet Union. What followed was a learning curve. After nine years in London, I am back in Ukraine and setting up a new cultural and research institution.
I used to write on topics as diverse as the legacies of Chornobyl and Victorian decadence. Since 2022, I have been mostly interested in Ukraine's full-scale resistance to Russia's aggression. My words are in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Guardian, New Lines Magazine, CNN Opinion, and others.
I have gained a PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Birkbeck (University of London), taught at Birkbeck and UCL SSEES, and published in peer-reviewed journals before parting with academia. Occasional guest lectures and conferencing persist.
In 2021-23, I was a special projects curator for UIL. I curated a writing residency Ukraine Lab and an online course Literatura. I keep editing the London Ukrainian Review, published by the UIL in partnership with IWM and ASP.
I regularly give public talks, interviews, and moderate events on the topics of Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion and Ukrainian traditions of resistance.
index
In late 2023, I returned to Ukraine to help set up INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange, a new cultural and research institution based in Lviv. I am proud to serve as its programme director.