In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger’s historical novel, The Woman at the Gates. The Woman at the Gates begins in the summer of 1945 in Bavaria. Antonia, her sister Lena, and her two nephews are recovering after their harrowing experiences in World War II. They have fond memories of their Ukrainian village of Sadovyi Hai, but they also remember the horrific days of struggle under the Soviet and Nazi regimes. Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger’s poignant novel is a brutally realistic portrayal of a Ukrainian patriot, and “freedom’s heavy toll.” (p. 9) It is 1941 in Lviv, and Antonia has joined the clandestine Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). She wants to help free Ukraine from its foreign rulers. “Initially, she too had been prepared to fight those who repressed her country’s language, traditions and cultures; a Ukrainian’s very right to exist.” (p. 16) By day, she teaches languages at the university, and at night, she writes articles for the underground newspaper, Our Nation’s Voice. Several of her friends work with her, Ivan Kovalenko and his sister Oksana as well as Dr. Victor Gruber, her colleague at the university. Antonia is in love with Gruber, and they hope […]

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Ksenia Rychtyka’s poetry chapbook, A Sky Full of Wings. A Sky Full of Wings is collection of twenty-five poems selected as a finalist in the 2020 New Women’s Voices Chapbook Competition. Chapbooks are short volumes of less than forty pages, which often take the form of poetry. Rychtyka’s poems focus on family relationships, journeys, and the Ukrainian homeland. Each poem explores some aspect of the circle of life as the epigraph by Lina Kostenko suggests, “And nothing seemed accidental because it left traces on my heart.” Throughout this poetry collection, the writer uses images of flight.  Her first poem, “Ode to Journeying” begins with the words, “If I could, I’d fly north to the land/ of Midnight Sun. Wings outstretched.” The poems in this collection are divided into four sections: Home, Journeying, Ancestral Land, and Circle of Life.  In Home, the writer remembers places she has lived, specifically Chicago and Detroit.  The poem, “What I Remember,” is full of beautiful and vivid images, “Our house is still,” “Only [the] almond refrigerator hums,” “Afternoon sun skips over kilim rug,” and “Father naps on the sofa.” These memories of her home and […]

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Yuri Kostenko’s book Ukraine’s Nuclear Disarmament – A History. Ukraine’s Nuclear Disarmament – A History, published by the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, outlines the factors which led Ukraine to sign the Budapest Memorandum in 1994. This agreement denuclearized the country. It also questions whether this was the right decision for Ukraine’s future. Yuri Kostenko’s insider account will help readers understand the power dynamics involved with Ukraine’s fateful decision to give up its nuclear weapons in the mid-1990’s, leaving Ukraine vulnerable to Russian aggression.  In 2014, twenty years after the Budapest Memorandum was signed, Russia annexed Crimea and supported an insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The first Chapter, “An Infant in a Grownups’ Game,” outlines the influences which impacted Ukraine’s initial decision-making. In July 1990, as the Ukrainian parliament was drafting the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine, Ivan Drach, the leader of Narodny Rukh, suggested that perhaps nuclear weapons should be banned on Ukrainian territory.  This was a new and controversial idea.  After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was left with the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world, after the United States and Russia. Russia wanted […]

Wretched Land tells the epic story of Dmytro and Khrystina Verbitsky as they live through the horrors of early 20th century Ukraine. Their love for the land and their family of ten children keeps them together through wars, famine, invasions, and collectivization. Readers will experience, “An unforgettable journey into the heart and soul of a land and people built on pain, passion, and hope for a better future.” (book jacket) As the novel begins, it is 1907, and twenty-year old Dmytro finds out that his impoverished aristocrat father has committed suicide. His father owned an estate in Gorodne in the Kharkiv province of eastern Ukraine, but he lost everything because of his gambling and drinking.  Dmytro is forced to sell-off all his assets, and is left with nothing.  “The estate was not only a means of making a living; it was his pride and joy. What would become of him now? How would he survive such a disgrace? How could his father do this to him?” (p. 12) Before this tragedy, he was in love with Khrystina, the daughter of a wealthy peasant.  He still wants to marry her, but has nothing to offer.  Her father rejects Dmytro’s proposal, but […]

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Sandra Semchuk’s book on the internment of Ukrainians in Canada, The Stories Were Not Told – Canada’s First World War Internment Camps. From 1914 to 1920, thousands of individuals who had immigrated to Canada from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany and the Ottoman Empire were unjustly imprisoned as enemy aliens.  Many of them were Ukrainian. In The Stories Were Not Told – Canada’s First World War Internment Camps, Sandra Semchuk combines her exquisite photography with historical documents, cultural theory, and poignant personal testimony from internees and their descendants.  Semchuk helps readers understand the social and emotional effects of these tragic events. In her Preface, Semchuk tells readers, “We are learning the important work of listening and speaking truthfully across cultures. Today’s fears for security in the world stir memories and experiences of racism, paranoia, and distrust of new immigrants.” (p. xxiv) The first chapter, “Learning from the Past,” examines the historical events: Ukrainian immigration to Canada in the early 1900s, the War Measures Act of August 19, 1914, and the call for the creation of internment camps for enemy aliens. Internment camps became a government sanctioned method to imprison those falsely […]

  In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Serge Cipko’s ground-breaking book Starving Ukraine – The Holodomor and Canada’s Response. Starving Ukraine is a richly detailed history of Canada’s response to the Holodomor, the great famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933. By examining Canadian newspapers, contemporary letters, and government documents, Cipko paints a shocking picture of famine and death, and the Soviet government’s denials of these events. Cipko probes several important questions, “What was the nature of the coverage in the Ukrainian-language press in Canada? How did the pro-Soviet segment of the Ukrainian community respond to the stories about famine in the Soviet Union? What relief efforts existed among Ukrainians, Mennonites, and others in Canada?  How did the Canadian government respond to petitions about the famine?” (p. xix) Canadians learned of the famine from a multitude of contradictory sources including newspaper articles, personal letters, political speeches, and organized events to protest this Soviet atrocity. Serge Cipko’s examination of Canada’s response to the famine begins with the Edmonton Journal’s commentary about a scarcity of wheat in Ukraine in early April 1932. This was the earliest reporting about the Holodomor in the mainstream Canadian press. However, in May the Toronto […]