Algometry

A term of physiology and neurology, algometry is the science of measuring pain. However, it is not physical pain that Iryna Vikyrchak examines in Algometry, but her experiences growing up in Western Ukraine in the ’90s, emphasizing emotional sensitivity and inner strength, which give way to a philosophical and lyrical reflection on pain, suffering, and empathy as a measurement of our humanness.

In Algometry Vikyrchak presents a lyrical portrait of the generation of Ukrainians who grew up and were shaped by shared and individual painful internal and external experiences, to become a resilient and brave nation. First published in Kyiv in 2021, Algometry has since acquired new resonance: the title now seems to be a premonition, an anticipation of the big pain that came to Ukraine in February 2022, one that still lingers. The poems, organized in three corridors (Algometry—Anthropology—Amnesia), take the reader through an individual past, a common future, and a lyrical forever.

The poetry is complemented with an author’s essay on love, pain, words, and what unites all living beings—a key to understanding this book. Algometry won the 2022 Kovaliv Fund Literary Prize. Volume 17 in the Lost Horse Press Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series. Bilingual Edition.