Category Archives: Books on Ukraine

Forgottenness by Tanja Maljartschuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins.

Posted on March 22, 2024 by mandywight

There are two parallel stories in Tanja Maljartschuk’s novel Forgottenness. It’s the story of Viacheslav Lypynskyi, born in 1882, an important figure in the early 20th century struggle for Ukrainian independence. It’s also the story of the narrator, a young … Continue reading →

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Diary of an Invasion by Andrey Kurkov

Posted on February 7, 2023 by mandywight

It seems like a good time to be reading this account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the one year anniversary approaching, on February 24th. Andrey Kurkov, a novelist well-known outside Ukraine, ( Death of a Penguin, Grey Bees) … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in English, Books on Ukraine, History, Memoir, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Peak Reads of 2022

Posted on December 30, 2022 by mandywight

It’s been a great year for books, book events and opportunities. I really enjoyed browsing in Freiburg, Berlin and Bordeaux, attending readings at festivals like Festilitt, Sheffield’s Off the Shelf and, virtually, at Edinburgh. On a more sombre note, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books in English, Books in German, Books in Spanish, Books in Translation, Books on Ukraine, Books set in South America, History, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

German Literature Month X11 is nearly here!

Posted on October 31, 2022 by mandywight

It’s the end of October and German Literature Month XII is happily almost upon us. Now, though I may be tardy in setting out my reading stall, I have in fact been mulling over my selected reads for a little … Continue reading →

Posted in Books by Austrian writers, Books in German, Books in Translation, Books on Ukraine, Literary Events, Memoir, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Offene Wunden Osteuropas- The Open Wounds of Eastern Europe: Journeys to Second World War Memorial Sites by Franziska Davies and Katja Makhotina

Posted on October 6, 2022 by mandywight

This book by historians Franziska Davies and Katja Makhotina is a series of essays recounting their visits to Second World War memorial sites in Eastern Europe. In the introduction they set out their mission: to better understand the war and … Continue reading →

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The Orphanage by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by Reilly Costigan-Hughes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler

Posted on July 13, 2022 by mandywight

This powerful novel, which has just won the EBRD Literature Prize 2022, is set in Eastern Ukraine some time after the outbreak of war in 2014. It takes place over three days, and tells the story of Pasha, a teacher … Continue reading →

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Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets translated by Eugene Ostashevsky

Posted on May 31, 2022 by mandywight

This collection of stories about displaced women in Ukraine couldn’t be more topical: set in the last few years since the start of the ‘covert war’ in the Donbas in 2014, these are stories of displacement, disappearance, trauma and loss. … Continue reading →

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The City-Walerjan Pidmohylnyj’s Kyiv novel

Posted on April 21, 2022 by mandywight

 Walerjan Pidmohylnyj’s novel, Misto, The City, gives us a fabulous picture of 1920s post-revolutionary Kyiv. It’s a city overflowing with people, on the streets, in municipal parks, in bingo halls and beer cellars. In these few years Kyiv is a … Continue reading →

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Peak reads of 2021!

Posted on January 5, 2022 by mandywight

So better late than never, here are my top 10 reads of 2021 and it’s no surprise to anyone to see that my faible is for translated fiction: 6 of the 10 are translated fiction, and 5 are published by … Continue reading →

Posted in Books by Austrian writers, Books in English, Books in Spanish, Books in Translation, Books on Ukraine, Books set in Central America, History, Memoir, Poetry, Short Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nastja’s Traenen- Nastja’s tears- by Natascha Wodin.

Posted on December 16, 2021 by mandywight

Natascha Wodin’s latest book can be read as an addendum to her prize-winning novel Sie kam aus Mariupol. There, she tells the story of her Ukrainian mother, deported to Nazi Germany in World War Two to work in their factories … Continue reading →

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