275. Kateryna Babkina - Optimism is not Enough to Defeat Russia and Remain a Vibrant, Independent Country

100 years ago, few in Western Europe cared about Ukraine – or its
disappearance as an independent state – swallowed up as the newly born
tyranny of the USSR flexed its imperial muscles; but that has now
changed. Putin’s Russian World revanchism and violence have accelerated
the evolution of Ukrainian identity and increased the pressure for
social, political, and economic change. Perhaps the most perverse
Russian invasion narrative, is that Ukraine is not old, and is not
distinct from Russia in any case. But Ukraine is not just a footnote to
Russian imperial history. And at the end of this war, Ukraine could
prove to be the rock upon which the decrepit, brittle hull of the
Russian imperial ship tears itself apart and sinks from history.
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Kateryna Babkina is a Ukrainian poet, short story writer, novelist,
playwright, and screenwriter. She is the winner of Angelus Central
European Literature Award (2021) for her book ‘My Grandfather Danced’.
Kateryna was born in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine and attended Taras
Shevchenko National University of Kyiv to study journalism, graduating
in 2007, after which she worked as a freelance journalist. Babkina's
novella for children "Cappy and the Whale" was published in translation
by Penguin Random House, UK. In April 2023. Kateryna was the first
Ukrainian author to have her readings at the Library of Congress, US.
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LINKS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kateryna_Babkina
https://twitter.com/babkina
https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/295414/kateryna-babkina
https://pen.org.ua/en/members/babkina-kateryna
https://www.instagram.com/babkina
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POETRY
St Elmo's Fire (2002)
The Mustard (2011)
Painkillers and Sleeping Pills (2014)
Charmed for Love (2017)
Does not hurt (2021)
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
Lilu After You (2008)
Schaslyvi holi lyudy (Happy Naked People) (2016)
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NOVELS
Sonia (2013)
My Grandfather Danced the Best (2019)
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SCREENPLAYS
Evil, as part of the 2013 Kinofest NYC festival
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PLAYS
Hamlet.Babylon (2016), an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet
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CHILDREN'S STORIES
Harbuzovyi rik (The Pumpkin Year) (2014)
Шапочка і кит (The Hat and the Whale) (2015)
Girls's power (2018, co-authored with Mark Livin)
Snow heaty (2022)
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