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The Hidden Canon: Discover Ukrainian literary classics

A Kyiv Independent project backed by the Ukrainian Institute

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Burned Ukrainian books at the site of a Russian missile attack on a publishing factory in Kharkiv, Ukraine on May 23, 2024.
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Ukrainian publishers stand strong despite enormous financial losses from Russian attacks

by Kate Tsurkan

The moment Svitlana Paveletska, co-founder of Knyholav, received the news that the mass attack on July 19 had wiped out her publishing house's warehouse in Kyiv, she felt an overwhelming wave of grief that was difficult to put into words. "Every book represents months, and sometimes years, of work by our entire publishing team, including the author, translator, editor, proofreader, designer, and printer," Paveletska told the Kyiv Independent. Books are not military targets, but according to th

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Wednesday, July 29

'Away from Moscow!' — The enduring cry of writer Mykola Khvylovy, the voice of a generation purged by Stalin

Editor's Note: This story is part of the "Hidden Canon"  – a special series celebrating Ukrainian classic literature and aiming to bring it to a wider international audience. The series is supported by the Ukrainian Institute. One late morning in May 1933, the 39-year-old Ukrainian author Mykola Khvylovy excused himself from the guests in his apartment, telling his fellow writers that he would fetch his new manuscript to read to them. Instead, upon entering his study, he shot himself in the he

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In the summer of 2016, Russia's security services gained unprecedented access to citizens' private calls, messages, and photos. The so-called Yarovaya laws demanded that telecoms companies store user data and hand it over to Russia's security services on request — even without a court order. For activists, the danger of such laws was obvious. The illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea had taken place two years prior; politician Boris Nemtsov had been gunned down in view of the Kremlin in 2015,

Zelensky's Trump meeting produced one possible breakthrough — and it wasn't Patriots

President Volodymyr Zelensky's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump took place in what Ukrainian officials described as a warm atmosphere, but it produced few results for Kyiv, people familiar with the discussions told the Kyiv Independent. The one breakthrough may have been persuading Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — Trump's two main envoys on Russia and Ukraine — to finally visit Kyiv after months of shuttling to Moscow. One U.S. official familiar with the planning cautioned that the tr

About Culture

Our reporting on literature, films, art, and traditions from Ukraine and the latest news on culture in Eastern Europe.

Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian culture has survived centuries of Russian attempts to appropriate Ukrainian art, silence Ukrainian artists, and erase the Ukrainian language. Modern Ukrainian writers, filmmakers, and musicians — some of whom are serving on the front lines — continue to develop Ukrainian culture and fight for Ukraine’s future.

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