Herstories: An Anthology of New Ukrainian Women Prose Writers

Women’s prose writing has exploded on the literary scene in Ukraine just prior to and following Ukrainian independence in 1991. Over the past two decades scores of fascinating new women authors have emerged. These authors write in a wide variety of styles and genres including short stories, novels, essays, and new journalism. In the collection you will find: realism, magical realism, surrealism, the fantastic, deeply intellectual writing, newly discovered feminist perspectives, philosophical prose, psychological mysteries, confessional prose, and much more.

You’ll find an entire gamut of these Ukrainian women writers’ experiences that range from deep spirituality to candid depictions of sexuality and interpersonal relations. You’ll find tragedy and humor and on occasion humor in the tragedy. You’ll find urban prose, edgy, caustic, and intellectual; as well as prose harkening back to village life and profound tragedies from the Soviet past that have left marks of trauma on an entire nation. This is a collection of Ukrainian women’s stories, histories that serve to tell her unique stories in English translation. Substantial excerpts from novels and translations of complete shorter works of each author will give the reader deep insight into this burgeoning phenomenon of contemporary Ukrainian women’s prose.

The volume will include 18 contemporary writers: Lina Kostenko, Emma Andijewska, Nina Bichuya, Sofia Maidanska, Ludmyla Taran, Liuko Dashvar, Maria Matios, Eugenia Kononenko, Oksana Zabuzhko, Iren Rozdobudko, Natalka Sniadanko, Larysa Denysenko, Svitlana Povaljajeva, Svitlana Pyrkalo, Dzvinka Matiash, Irena Karpa, Tanya Malyarchuk, and Sofia Andrukhovych.

The volume is compiled, edited and accompanied with a critical introduction by Michael M. Naydan, Woskob Family Professor of Ukrainian Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. Seventeen different translators from around the world have contributed translations to the volume.

Glagoslav Publications sincerely thanks Oksana Zhelisko, a talented fine artist who provided the cover art for this book. The painting “April” from the series Twelve Months-A Dozen Moods perfectly reflects the mystery of Her soul.