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Translated by Oksana Maksymchuk, Max Rosochinsky, and Svetlana Lavochkina
Born and raised in a small coal-mining town in Ukraine’s industrial east, Lyuba Yakimchuk lost her family home in 2014, when the region was occupied by Russian-backed militants, and her parents and sister were forced to flee as refugees. Reflecting the complex emotional experiences of a civilian witnessing a gradual disintegration of her familiar surroundings, Apricots of Donbas is a versatile collection, ranging from sumptuous verses about the urgency of erotic desire in a war-torn city to imitations of child-like babbling about the tools and toys of military combat.
Playfulness in the face of catastrophe is a distinctive feature of Yakimchuk’s voice, evoking the legacy of the Ukrainian Futurists of the 1920s. The poems’ artfulness goes hand in hand with their authenticity, offering intimate glimpses into the story of a woman affected by a life-altering situation beyond her control.
Volume 7 in the Lost Horse Press Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series. Bilingual Edition.
