In this episode, Dr. Oleg Kotsuba, Director of Publications at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), discusses HURI’s origins, its publishing mission, and its role in preserving and promoting Ukraine’s intellectual heritage.
Click on the player to listen to the interview. Read the full transcript of the interview below.
Pawlina: Today on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio, we’re honored to welcome Dr. Oleg Kotsuba, Director of Publications at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, or HURI. Located in the heart of Harvard University’s campus, HURI serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research, teaching, and publishing focused on Ukrainian history, language, literature, and contemporary issues.
Since its founding in the early 1970s, HURI has become a global leader in Ukrainian studies. Beyond its academic reach, it’s also a powerhouse in publishing, producing groundbreaking works that preserve and promote Ukraine’s rich intellectual heritage. Several of these titles have been featured on Nosh Holos in book reviews by Mara Janek over the years.
Today, Dr. Kotsuba joins us to share more about HURI’s publishing mission, its evolution, and the authors who’ve helped bring Ukraine’s voice to the world. Thank you so much for joining us.
Dr. Kotsuba: It’s a pleasure being here. Thank you for inviting me.
Founding of HURI
Pawlina: Let’s start with the big picture. Can you give us a brief overview of HURI’s founding and its role in advancing Ukrainian studies at Harvard and globally?
Dr. Kotsuba: Absolutely. Our institute is a unique example of an academic institution founded not through a single wealthy donor, but through a grassroots campaign that lasted over a decade. It began with students at American universities who wanted to take courses in Ukrainian studies but couldn’t.
They were later joined by Omeljan Pritsak and other Harvard professors, who encouraged them to aim higher—not just one chair in Ukrainian studies, but three chairs and a research institute, and specifically at Harvard. Students, professors, and community leaders worked together, collecting donations—sometimes just three to five dollars per person—organizing events, lectures, and talks.
In 1968, the Committee on Ukrainian Studies was founded at Harvard, leading to the official establishment of HURI in 1973.
The institute’s early mission was to create an international field of Ukrainian studies at a time when Ukraine was not on the political map. It was part of the Soviet Union, with full control in Moscow, and Ukraine had no agency in its own scholarship. HURI aimed to build an alternative academy of sciences in the humanities outside Ukraine.
Some major accomplishments included reclaiming the heritage of Kyivan Rus from false Russian claims, and establishing the study of the Holodomor within international genocide studies. Robert Conquest’s seminal 1986 study on the Holodomor was commissioned and supported by HURI.
After Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the institute expanded to study contemporary Ukrainian society, culture, and politics, including the two revolutions and the war beginning in 2014. Many prominent scholars and public figures have passed through or worked closely with HURI.
Community Unity and Student Leadership
Pawlina: I remember those times. Back in the 1980s, when I was active at the University of Manitoba, Harvard felt so far away. The founding story is remarkable—a testament to what students can do.
Dr. Kotsuba: Absolutely. The effort united the entire Ukrainian diaspora, which included people with very diverse and often conflicting political views. Yet everyone agreed that establishing a center for Ukrainian studies at a prominent university was essential for defending and advancing the Ukrainian cause. Knowledge and education were key to establishing Ukraine as a fact, not a subject of manipulation. Students built alliances across the community and made the institute possible.
Origins of the Publishing Program
Pawlina: Let’s talk about publishing. Before you answer, I want to say: what an incredible story of the institute’s founding.
Dr. Kotsuba: Thank you. What’s interesting is that HURI’s publishing program actually began before the institute was formally created. In 1968, the first publications appeared in partnership with a publishing house in Munich. Professor Pritsak had strong connections in Germany, and Fink Publishers released some of the earliest volumes under the institute’s imprint.
After 1973, an ambitious publishing program was envisioned—more than could realistically be achieved at the time—but the institute still produced a significant body of work. One major project was the Harvard Library of Early Ukrainian Literature, which includes chronicles, facsimile editions, and annotated texts, all under the umbrella of early Ukrainian writing.
Over time, as Ukrainian society changed and Ukrainian literature broke free of Soviet constraints, the publishing program shifted toward contemporary topics. Today, we have five series of scholarly monographs and a highly popular series of translated Ukrainian literature. These include fiction, nonfiction, and scholarly works on Ukrainian society, politics, energy, defense, and military history.
A Diverse and Evolving Catalogue
Pawlina: I have a stack of books here—five of them—and I’m looking forward to diving in. There’s such diversity: essays by Serhii Plokhii, historical works like Stalin’s Liquidation Game, and novels by Olena Stiazhkina, Serhiy Zhadan, and Volodymyr Rafeyenko.
What amazed me is that many of these authors are from Eastern Ukraine. Some wrote in Russian for years, and now they’re transitioning to Ukrainian. That must be a struggle. I remember being in Kyiv in 2015 and hearing people still speaking Russian out of habit. If there’s anything good to come from this war, it’s the reawakening of Ukrainian identity.
Dr. Kotsuba: We are indeed dealing with the legacy of centuries of oppression. Many ethnically Ukrainian people no longer spoke Ukrainian because survival often meant hiding one’s identity. Families avoided discussing the past because it was painful and dangerous.
Rafeyenko writes about this directly. He grew up believing he was Russian, studied Russian literature, and became a prominent Russian‑language author. Russia often tries to “privatize” talented people from neighboring countries. But after fleeing Donetsk and later escaping the Russian advance near Kyiv, he returned to Ukrainian identity and language. His novel Mondegreen explores this transformation through a refugee learning Ukrainian while trying to rebuild his fractured sense of self.
Olena Stiazhkina’s novel Cecil the Lion Had to Die also reflects this journey. In the original, the text transitions from Russian to Ukrainian. In translation, we used color to represent this shift: white text on black background for one language, black on white for the other.
Writers like Zhadan have long been central to Ukrainian literature and culture. Their work gives strength to Ukrainians and deserves to be read worldwide. Once we publish them in English, other countries often follow with translations into their own languages.
How HURI Selects Authors
Pawlina: How do you find your authors? They’re not all university professors, which is refreshing.
Dr. Kotsuba: It’s a combination of factors. I’m a literary scholar, so I follow Ukrainian literature closely. I know who the major writers are, past and present.
Translators also play a crucial role. Because Ukraine doesn’t yet have a strong market economy for translations, translators often act as agents or advocates for authors. If a translator believes in a work and presents a compelling proposal, that’s already half the decision for us.
We also consider what narratives are important at a given moment—what stories help the world understand Ukraine more clearly, especially amid widespread misinformation. Books by writers like Stanislav Aseyev, who documented life under occupation and survived nearly three years in an illegal prison, are vital contributions to global understanding.
HURI as a Micro Press
Pawlina: It sounds like HURI’s publishing arm is a hybrid—part university press, part independent publisher.
Dr. Kotsuba: That’s accurate. We’re a micro press within the institute. Our team is very small—just myself and one editor—so we do the work of many people. We have some freelance support, but the final responsibility always rests with us.
We previously received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to hire an editor, but the new U.S. administration withdrew the grant, saying our work no longer aligned with its priorities. We disagree, of course, but we continue doing what we can. I believe we’re punching above our weight.
We’re distributed by Harvard University Press, which ensures our books are available worldwide—in independent bookstores, major chains, and online retailers like Amazon and Bookshop.
How to Learn More
Pawlina: If people want to learn more about HURI and your publications, how can they find you?
Dr. Kotsuba: We’re active on all major social media platforms—just look for HURI Books. Our website is books.huri.harvard.edu. You can also contact us directly if you’d like to support our work or learn more. All contact details are on the website.
Pawlina: Thank you so much, Dr. Kotsuba, for sharing these fascinating insights into HURI’s publishing legacy and its role in preserving and promoting Ukrainian culture.
Dr. Kotsuba: Thank you. It was a pleasure being with you.
