Books by Serhiy Zhadan

“Zhadan is my favorite writer and poet who represents Eastern Ukraine, a multi-faceted talent. He’s a public intellectual, an activist, an essayist, and a novelist. Voroshilovgrad is a 2010 novel about Eastern Ukraine in the twentieth century…It was written before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it talks about the homecoming of the main hero…Voroshilovgrad is an ideal entry point into Zhadan’s work. From there, you can delve into his writing and enjoy his poetry and later works.” Read more...

The Best Ukrainian Literature

Sasha Dovzhyk, Literary Scholar

“The Orphanage is an extremely interesting book. Serhiy Zhadan comes from Eastern Ukraine and during Maidan was taking part in the clashes in the second-largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv, which is now under the threat of possible attack.” Read more...

The best books on Ukraine and Russia

Serhii Plokhy, Historian

“He’s a brilliant writer, a poet, novelist, and the lead singer of the ska band Sobaky v Kosmosi (Dogs in Outer Space.) He is the bard of eastern Ukraine. It’s a novel composed of different stories, mostly prose with some poetry as well. The stories are set in Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine where Zhadan, who is himself from the Donbas, now lives. It was unclear in spring of 2014 whether there was going to be a separatist rebellion in Kharkiv, whether it was also going to become part of the territory ensconced in war. Serhiy Zhadan is really a genius at drawing the reader into the inner lives of these characters in post-industrial, post-Soviet places. His literary influences are ones that American readers will understand: the Beat poets, Kerouac and Burroughs, magical realism. Despite the fact that he’s writing about people in a radically different time and place, it’s somehow very easily relatable. He has an uncanny ear for dialogue. And he evokes a deep love utterly devoid of sentimentality for these people about whom we have long known nothing.” Read more...

The best books on Ukraine

Marci Shore,