Ukrainian Women in SF: A Roundtable Conversation

Interviewed by Michael Burianyk

Nataliya Dovhopol, Natalia Matolinets, Iryna Hrabovska, Daria Piskozub and Svitlana Taratorina are five young, diverse Ukrainian women writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Not only is their fiction significant but they also have a YouTube channel “Фантастичні talk(s)/Fantastic talk(s)” (@fantalks) where they discuss the history and current state of Ukrainian fantastic literature and interview foreign writers. All are fluent and articulate in English. More importantly they are expressive in their understanding of their own work and the importance of Science Fiction and Fantasy in understanding real life. Their insights into their writing reveal how it fits into contemporary Ukrainian culture and literature. Their responses are often touching and even harrowing, considering the horrific war they are experiencing.

Note for the following that both Nataliya Dovhopol and Natalia Matolinets share the same first name, spelled the same in Ukrainian, but use different English spellings.

What themes and topics do you explore in your work? 

Nataliya Dovhopol I combine my interests in local history, mythology, art history and cultural studies with my degree in Theory and History of Art. I consider my novels to be historical fantasy (To Find the Amazon’s Land, The Knight of the Drevlyanian Land and the Lady Eagle) and ethnic fantasy (Wandering Circus of the Silver Lady). I also explore urban fantasy and like to experiment with genres and topics to reveal unknown pages of Ukrainian history, but always in the context of the real world. As well, suffering a lack of coming-of-age stories in my childhood, I want today’s youngsters to easily find exciting books by Ukrainian authors.

Iryna Hrabovska I’ve written in many genres, including detective stories and adventure novels. But most of all I love researching history. My debut was the steampunk duology Leoburg mostly set in a world with an alternate European history. My new trilogy (The Crystal Castle) is a sword and sorcery fantasy based on the events of the Hundred Years’ War. I am particularly proud of my mystical story The Closest to Hell, about the disappearance of miners in one of the first mines in Donbas in the early 20th century. It’s based on historical material about the small mining town of Snizhne, where I was born, and I want Ukrainians to see the Donetsk region not only as a place of war but also as a place of beauty and fantasy.

Natalia Matolinets I started writing fantasy based on different mythologies, as they were a huge part of my reading while growing up. I later developed an interest in travel, history and arts, so urban fantasy became my safe haven where I could combine whatever I wanted and send my characters to the places that I loved. Even though some of my books were inspired by Greek myth (Hessi), royal France (Ceramic Hearts), my current interest is Eastern and Central Europe. I began my urban fantasy journey with the Varta in the Game trilogy, which was also published in the Czech Republic and is coming out soon in Poland. This story is my attempt to explore the European context of Ukraine which had many ties with neighboring countries. After the Varta trilogy I decided to work more from the Ukrainian perspective. Just before the full-scale Russian invasion I finished The Alliance for the Rescue of Tiles and People, my tribute to pre-war Lviv, its multicultural past and to Ukrainians as a part of urban life, memories of which have been erased or forgotten. Currently I’m working on a new project about the Belle Epoque. In 2023 I had an opportunity to work on it as a resident of the Prague UNESCO City of Literature.

Svitlana Taratorina I grew up in the very russified Ukrainian Crimea, but when I moved to Kyiv at the age of 18, I immediately began writing fiction only in Ukrainian. I started writing urban fantasy based on Ukrainian history, folklore and mythology as a path to my Ukrainian identity. I tried to understand who I was, as a Ukrainian, wanting to know how the empire, Russian or Soviet, distorted and destroyed my history and culture. My first novel, the urban fantasy Lazarus is about postcolonial trauma. Set in the 1910s, my research showed that despite being presented as a period of Russian cultural dominance Kyiv had always been a multinational, multicultural, and multireligious city with Ukrainians playing a leading role. It’s now been translated into Polish. Poles have had a similar experience of Russian colonialism, and I think that fantasy well illuminates postcolonialism. With the beginning of the full-scale war, I became increasingly interested in science fiction and post-apocalyptic stories. My second novel, House of Salt, just published in 2023, is a post-apocalyptic novel with elements of science fiction and horror. It is based on the history and myths of my native Crimea and is a reflection on the 2014 Russian occupation of that peninsula. Since February of 2022, I’ve completed three short stories. One of them is a historical fantasy based on the history of Crimea in the first century AD. The other two are post-apocalyptic stories – my interpretation of the experience of living during the war. Science fiction and the post-apocalyptic genre allows me to understand what Ukrainians are going through now.

Daria Piskozub I always knew I would work in SFF genres. I loved the concepts of foreign lands and chivalric quests, but as I grew older, I understood that SFF can be so much more. Fantastic worlds are a playground where current problems and issues can be examined. While epic fantasy was my earliest interest my debut came in 2020 with the post-apocalyptic novel Machina. Since my major in university was Computer Sciences I thought of what it would take for our society, a society of ideas and meritocracy, to return to valuing brute force. I paired the most “savage” vision of human society with perhaps civilization’s biggest potential achievement – AI. The sequel to Machina – Hemma – was supposed to come in 2022 but due to the invasion it only came out this last summer. I’m also interested in the idea of space opera and in those anxious times just before the invasion I wrote a short story about Ukraine of the 23^rd century ready to join the space race. In 2022, heavily influenced by the war, I wrote two more short stories. One of them is about a world where the dead remain as visible spirits. The still living are able to see how many soldiers and civilians died for their land in the past. The spark that pushed me to write this story was the reality of death coming from all sides – scrolling social networks to see dozens of daily obituaries, hearing of friends’ deaths on the frontlines, and starting every event with a minute of silence in memory of the fallen. I feel as if I am only beginning to grasp the extent to which the invasion has impacted my writing – both in style, themes and genres. 

What were the literary and genre influences that inspired you? Were books and literature your primary love or did film and television play an important part?

Nataliya My favorite fantasy book was the Ukrainian classic Forest song by Lesya Ukrainka. I was raised on traditional Ukrainian songs and legends, so had this passion at my roots. I didn’t read much SFF while growing up but then discovered Zelazny’s Nine Princes in Amber in my aunt’s village library. Charmed was my favorite TV show and I watched every fantasy movie I could find.

Iryna The first book I remember reading as a child was The Land of Fireflies, a beautifully illustrated middle-grade Ukrainian fantasy story, by Viktor Blyznyets. While growing up I read a lot of fantasy – The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell, the Myth Adventures series by Robert Asprin, and later The Hunger Games by Susan Collins, The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, and so on. I was also greatly influenced by English gothic and vampire novels, as well as by the works of Ukrainian writers, especially those of the 1920s and 1930s, part of the “the Executed Renaissance” like Ivan Bahrianyi and Mykola Khvylyovyi. One of the most striking books that inspired me was that combination of mysticism and historical research, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova which inspired me to study history. Other contemporary fantasy authors who have had a great influence on me include Leigh Bardugo and Joe Abercrombie. As for television, I will always be a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of the greatest shows ever created in my opinion and which has probably had the biggest influence on me to this day. 

Natalia I learned to read with the help of Greek myth, so gods, heroes, divine powers and royal intrigues were a part of my upbringing. I was a keen reader being surrounded by my parent’s huge library. Once, a Ukrainian publisher showed me a newly published book during the Lviv Book fair- Harry Potter – and it feels strange to me now to recall a moment when nobody knew Harry Potter! Later, I discovered the The Lord of the Rings.

Svitlana The first children’s fantasy books that impressed me were the OZ series by L. Frank Baum. I came to these stories through the Russian writer Alexander Volkov, who, conveniently behind the Iron Curtain, simply stole Baum’s stories and rewrote them in Russian. After the collapse of the USSR, I started reading all the SFF translations I could get my hands on. In the1990s, the book market was flooded with terrible Russian translations, or rather ad hoc adaptations. However, this is how I first read A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, books by Michael Moorcock, Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Roger Zelazny, Harry Harrison and others. I was 13 or 14 years old and will remember for the rest of my life the impression these unique and unusual books made on me and it was probably that reading experience that motivated me to write fantasy and science fiction. My favorite TV series at that time were Lexx and Х-Files and my favorite movies are space horror like Alien.

Daria I am a little younger than my colleagues and can shed some light on the experience of the first generation of Ukrainian Independence. I was born in 1997, 6 years after the USSR collapsed. My parents, who did not have a chance to read in Ukrainian in their childhood, diligently bought Ukrainian books for me. Every year more and more books would be translated, and they shaped my life. At the age of 7 I read J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Then Eragon by Cristopher Paolini. Then Lord of the Rings. These three books defined my love for fantasy, and I realized that I wanted to write it. As I reached adolescence, a wave of popularity for young adult fiction rose and I was able to read them in Ukrainian – The Hunger Games, and Divergent, for instance. Soon after classics of the genre were translated, Herbert’s Dune, Asimov’s Foundation, Jordan’s Wheel of Time and so on. I’m also a big fan of SFF on television and one of the first TV series I got hooked on was Charmed – translated in Ukraine as All Women are Witches, a reference to the last line of Hohol’s (aka Nikolai Gogol) horror story Viy.

There is a strong trend of more Ukrainian SFF being published. Why did you think this was happening?

Nataliya It’s mainly about escapism. After spending the night in a bomb shelter and doom scrolling all day, one needs something less traumatic. Yet, SFF can also help to cope with feelings, to project one’s own experiences on those in the stories. Then the ban on book imports from Russia and a growing interest in Ukrainian culture has created more of a demand for domestic literature.

Natalia The Ukrainian book market is growing in general and it’s just natural that more SFF would be published and sold. Publishers are also getting better at marketing their SFF books. When I debuted in 2018 with two books of young adult fantasy, I had trouble explaining what ‘young adult’ meant. My work was often thought of as ‘childrens’ books’ and it was difficult to reach the right audience. Now this has changed for the better.

Svitlana The situation started to change in 2014. Ukrainians became more interested in contemporary Ukrainian literature and publishers searched for new voices. After 2022, the ban on imported Russian books contributed to the development of the Ukrainian book market and the development of all its genres. However, SFF in Ukraine has had a very long tradition and it isn’t surprising that this genre is developing faster than others.

Daria The events that we have experienced pushed the edges of what people perceived as normal. Ideas of fighting total evil, the need to embark on a quest more important than your own life – all of this is native to SFF. It’s also a lense through which one can identify painful realities. There is more than enough reality in contemporary Ukrainian life that complex fantastic worlds can be weaved that reveal very painful truths.

There is a clear trend that more women are writing genre fiction. What has encouraged this and are there recognizable differences between works produced by women and their male colleagues?

Iryna Since women are thought to read more books, they are more likely to choose works written by women. Then there is the stereotype that women write for other women or for teens, so books by women have a wider audience and are more interesting to publishers. Women also choose popular genres, like romantic fantasy and young adult, that men are less likely to write so publishers seek them out. I also see a trend of male writers, after much criticism, to be better at depicting female characters, having them drive the plot and make decisions. LGBTQIA+ characters are appearing too, but mostly in works written by women.

Natalia Women are more often regularly on social media like Instagram and Tiktok where there is a huge SFF audience. Male writers often have a prejudice against social media, especially those dominated by young women. So as the publishing industry has grown, it became somewhat easier to publish SFF and more writers were able to use social media to gain attention.

Svitlana This is a global trend and Ukraine wants to be seen in a global context. The phenomenon of our group’s “Fantastic Talk(s)” channel has shown the power of synergy and that several voices together are stronger than one.

Daria Since 2014 many Ukrainians have joined the Armed Forces. While the percentage of women in uniform is large in comparison to other countries, there are still many more men. Some of them are writers, illustrators and publishers. A lot of Ukrainian literature, not just SFF, is on hold while their authors are putting their lives on the front lines. Much will not be written. This may have tilted the balance to more female voices.

Many people have heard of the simplistic and reductive belief in a ‘cultural and linguistic divide’ between western and eastern Ukraine, but even so it is indisputable that the country was heavily russified. So, how important is it to have genre literature in Ukrainian? 

Iryna Most Ukrainians want to read western SFF even if most Ukrainians don’t know English at a high enough level to read in it. However, there is a trend where the much more English proficient Ukrainian youth order books in English from Amazon and other platforms because Ukrainian publishers are not translating fast enough. This is especially true in YA where speed is everything. Young people want to read a book when it is discussed by book bloggers and goes viral and not a year later. But not everyone can afford to buy books abroad. So as Ukrainian SFF is gaining momentum, its authors cannot fully satisfy the demand. Ukrainian translations are badly needed and recently there have been near battles between publishers for translation rights. This shows that having genre literature in Ukrainian is extremely important. It’s a virtuous feedback loop – larger audiences are satisfied, more money is raised for the book market allowing more writers to be published.

Svitlana Ukrainian literature is only literature written in Ukrainian. It is important that genre literature be written in and translated into Ukrainian both for the development of language and culture, but also for Ukrainian national identity. Growing up in the very russified Crimea of the 1990s I spoke only Russian until the age of 18. All the SFF books I read before were translated into Russian. But, thanks to my mother, I grew up wanting to find my Ukrainian identity. For me, using Ukrainian for my writing became a way of protesting Russian-imperial narratives and a way to understand who I really was. 

Daria Genre fiction can provide a lens through which to view reality. Every genre speaks to what Ukrainians are experiencing no less than mainstream literature. Reading in one’s native language provides solace and closure. What language should people read if not their own? Is their need to speak, to hear, to read any less than any other people? I didn’t even know Russian until adolescence, which happened right before the Maidan Revolution in 2014 and the annexation of Crimea. Then, I read every new SFF release I could get my hands and since little was translated into Ukrainian I had to resort to books in foreign languages. The Russian book market was huge and was flooding the Ukrainian market, so it was easier to find those books. Yet after the annexation of Crimea, I decided I would not consume any Russian content, so switched to reading and watching in English. Why is it important for me to publish in Ukrainian? I am Ukrainian, so I want to read in my own language. If Ukrainian writers do not take care of the cultural and linguistic needs of their people who will? In 2024 that question is as poignant as ever since it’s quite clear that Ukrainian cultural workers are a threat to Russian imperialism and if it succeeds, a decent amount of them would be dead and others coerced into Russian culture. It already happened to the Executed Renaissance of Ukrainian intelligentsia a century ago in early Soviet times.

Nataliya My parents had a huge library with many Ukrainian classics and as a child I was a bookworm. My grandmother encouraged me to read and learn by heart. But of course, there were a lot of Russian classics as well, and many Russian translations of world literature. I grew up in Kyiv in the 1990s, and my school’s Foreign Literature program also included a lot of Russian classics. The first modern book I read, written by a Russian writer and set in Moscow made me think that writing in that language is cooler. Most of pop culture was in Russian and even Ukrainian-speaking kids were forced into it to fit in. Yet, at some point I realized that it didn’t feel right, and I didn’t want to be a part of it. If everyone aims for popularity and a large market, who is going to make Ukrainian authors popular? 

Was there ever any pressure to write and publish in Russian to reach a bigger audience outside of Ukraine?

Iryna I feel more pressure to write in English to reach a wider audience. English-speaking authors have many more opportunities compared to Ukrainian authors. I am not at all interested in the Russian-speaking audience outside Ukraine, because in most cases they have different values. As far as russified Ukrainians are concerned many read books in Ukrainian without any problems and are as interested in Ukrainian culture and books as those who are Ukrainian speakers. As for the people who don’t want to read in Ukrainian, my books won’t change their views even if Russian missiles don’t. Though I live Kyiv now, I was born and raised in the Donetsk region stereotypically considered “Russian speaking”. At the age of 16 I wrote my first story in Russian, and then immediately realized that I couldn’t belong to Ukrainian literature if I don’t write in it. I started writing, in Ukrainian, in 2003-2007, when the Ukrainian publishing market barely existed. All book distribution networks were flooded with cheaper imported Russian books. As a result, many Ukrainian authors wrote in Russian to try to get published there and reach the Ukrainian audience at the same time. This humiliating situation only changed after 2014 and the ban on the import of Russian printed materials. They are now experiencing the first years of free development of their market and a wave of interest in everything Ukrainian, which is evident in the huge increase in new fiction titles.

Svitlana I never thought about writing in Russian though I know many from Crimea who made a choice in favor of the Russian-language market. Now they are part of Russian culture and publishing books in Russia means sponsoring that economy and their war.

Daria I never had any intention of publishing in Russian. I was born after Ukrainian independence and my family, and all my social circle, was Ukrainian speaking. Moreover, the experience that my grandparents and their ancestors had with anything Russian – government, language etc. – were so horrific that I didn’t want to be a part of that culture.

Natalia I don’t think I would even be able to write a book in Russian. Even though I heard it on TV as a child, it was never a part of my life in school or at home. In my teen years I had no idea that there are people in Ukraine who still spoke Russian. Being from Lviv, in western Ukraine, this perspective was easy to come by. I would visit book fairs and saw that Ukrainian writers and books did indeed exist. So, I was never interested in writing in anything but Ukrainian. As far as reaching for a Russian-speaking audience, I don’t see a reason. Why would a writer deny enriching Ukrainian literature and instead choose the language of those who occupied and killed their ancestors for centuries and as they do now. As for the Russian-speaking audience in Ukraine, they know the Ukrainian language well, especially the youth who learned it at school and had to pass Ukrainian tests to get into university. My first translation offer, after the annexation of Crimea and occupation of Donbas, was from a Russian publisher. Though I had dreamed of getting translated for years I declined it. 

How important is it that Ukrainian SFF be translated into other languages and how can foreign publishers be encouraged to undertake such translations? What are some of the problems associated with translation?

Daria There is a great need for translators who know Ukrainian. Unfortunately, a lot of Slavic studies programs in foreign universities are focused on Russian language and literature, so there’s a lack of people who not only can translate from Ukrainian but who are contextually prepared for such work. I’ve even heard of a couple of instances when Russian-speaking translators were offered to translate Ukrainian texts, which surely can’t produce great results.

Nataliya I agree with Daria. When you fill in a grant proposal there is a requirement that the translator be a native speaker who knows Ukrainian as a second language. It is quite a difficult task, considering that Ukrainian has not been the most popular language to learn. Even foreign students, while coming to Ukraine, usually chose Russian as “more prospective”. The situation is gradually changing now. Ukrainian became the biggest trend of 2022 on Duolingo, and I hope that soon there will be qualified translators interested in taking on Ukrainian texts.

Iryna When we talk about global trends in SFF, the biggest ones are diversity and postcolonialism. Ukraine has been under the influence of empires for a long time and still fights for its independence, identity and existence. Ukrainians have a unique experience that many foreigners don’t have since they are going through the biggest war since World War II. In one way or another, almost all works of Ukrainian SFF deal with the war and the colonial past, so Ukrainian SFF is not isolated from this global context of decolonization. Ukraine also has a diverse and distinctive mythology, rich folklore, and ancient history – all of which allow Ukrainian SFF authors to weave this into their works which will allow foreigners to experience a previously inaccessible world. 

Natalia I remember being told once that translation is a luxury. And indeed, I feel that’s so, and I feel lucky with each opportunity to have my stories and books translated. Ukraine is still undiscovered, not only in terms of SFF. Ukrainians haven’t had a chance to speak loudly about their heroes and tragedies, about their folklore and historic roots. The English-language market respects and supports authentic voices and modern SFF represents many cultures and Ukrainians have good stories awaiting to be discovered. 

Svitlana Translation is an opportunity to speak with people from other cultures – it’s cultural diplomacy. Translations of Ukrainian texts allow the whole world to see the beauty and depth of the Ukrainian soul, to better understand the character of Ukrainians, to better feel what we are fighting for. All texts created by Ukrainians today are influenced by the experience of war in one way or another. Even if we are talking about science fiction and fantasy. Ukrainian writers want to share this experience with the world. This is the only way the world will be able to understand who it supports and why Ukrainians must win, why it needs to be supported.

Is the Ukrainian market saturated with translations from world SF and Fantasy, or are there gaps in what is available? Are there still issues with translations into Russian versus Ukrainian? 

Nataliya As for the ratio of Russian to Ukrainian translations, it is getting better, but it’s not enough. Some book rights are provided to Russian publishers for the whole post-Soviet space. And of course, most of the world’s SFF heritage were translated into Russian first, and anyone could easily find them on Russian pirate websites. It’s good that many Ukrainian readers refuse to read anything in Russian but not everyone was so conscious and responsible.

Natalia Translations in Ukraine are mainly of English language literature but in recent years the SFF market has more books by Polish authors, and there is quite a lot of German YA books. It’s simpler with English, because there are fewer problems to find translators, and since it is popular world-wide, local publishers don’t need extra promotional effort. But as a writer, I believe that discovering SFF of different countries, especially neighbors, can be the next big thing. There is already a trend for authentic stories taking over the English-language market, bringing multiple cultures closer. Of course, when we speak about so-called “small markets”, it’s harder to try something new, but I am very interested in reading urban fantasy set in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic or Hungary written by local authors. As for Russian translations Ukrainian publishers haven’t done this for years already. 

Svitlana My experience with working in a huge publishing house gives me the advantage of knowing that it is easier to find a translator from English than a translator from another language. So, yes, most of the translations on the Ukrainian market are from English. However, the situation is gradually leveling out. Further integration into Europe will attract translations from other languages. The Ukrainian publishing market has great potential. As for translation from other languages into Russian, I agree with Natalia, this is no longer acceptable.

What problems does Ukrainian SSF have to overcome in the next few years?

Iryna Ukrainian SFF is gaining momentum. Even though not all genres of the SFF spectrum are yet represented in Ukraine, and certain sub-genres have only 1-2 works, Ukrainian authors are quickly filling these gaps. In the next few years Ukrainian fiction will have to expand and deepen its genre diversity, fight against the arrogant attitude about genre literature being only frivolous entertainment, and to enter foreign markets to expand its audience. Of course, all these tasks are impossible without Ukraine’s victory in the war with Russia, so the first priority of Ukrainian writers, like all Ukrainians, is to help the army.

Svitlana I had a discussion with Andrzej Sapkowski of The Witcher fame. He said that Ukrainian science fiction writers have a unique experience of life during the war. It is this experience that will allow Ukrainians to write convincingly about war (it is very difficult to imagine an epic or dark fantasy without battle scenes). We will be expected to write about war and our literature will be associated with texts about war, but Ukrainian writers need to show how diverse their contemporary literature is and that they have something to share. 

Daria There are at least three problems – growth, recognition and translation, the last which I’ve already commented. About the first, there is a need for many more authors and many more books to satisfy the need for Ukrainian stories. Then, echoing Iryna, SFF is still marginalized. Book fairs segregate SFF authors and books into spaces too small to present all new releases. This isolation states, “here’s mainstream literature, discussing important topics and here’s SFF, entertaining but not serious”. 

This focus on young writers as yourself doesn’t hide the fact that Ukrainian SFF has existed for a long time. There have been very popular and successful Ukrainian writers who predominantly wrote in Russian for a pan-Soviet audience. Is there a divide between writers of your generation and those older Ukrainian writers? Are their works problematic in any way and can they still represent Ukrainian literature? 

Svitlana The situation in Ukraine after the collapse of the USSR was that for a time SFF was written in Russian by inertia. Russian was the language of the USSR, and all residents of the Soviet republics knew Russian. Thus, it was more profitable for authors to write in Russian than in their native language. The large post-Soviet space meant bigger circulations and higher royalties. The recent shared experiences allowed them to write recognisable stories for large numbers. However, after 2014, the situation changed dramatically. A whole new generation of Ukrainian science fiction writers grew up who wanted to write in Ukrainian. They no longer shared a common past with writers from other post-Soviet countries. The past became alien and hostile, and the new writers wanted to develop Ukrainian culture. The publishing market began to rapidly Ukrainianize. In my opinion there is no divide between writers of my generation and older Ukrainian writers who predominantly wrote in Russian because these writers never really represented Ukrainian literature. They were always a part of Russian or post-Soviet literature and my peers never felt any connection with them. I was much more influenced by American SFF authors than by those Russian-language writers who lived and wrote in Ukraine. A whole generation of readers has grown up who do not know them, and no one wants to read those who have even been translated into Ukrainian. Their latest works prove that they do not know the needs of the current Ukrainian reader and that they do not belong to contemporary Ukrainian SFF. 

Daria Ukrainian authors that I know who wrote in Russian before 2014 have opted to break off all their ties to Russian publishing or language after the annexation of Crimea. Those people – who were Russified and discovered their identity and now are writing in Ukrainian – are Ukrainian writers. Were there those who continued to write in Russian up to 2022 and after? Yes. However, I agree with Svitlana that by that point those names were Ukrainians by nationality only, which can be proven by their lack of public reaction to the February 2022 invasion and their complete estrangement with Ukrainian readers.

But I really want to focus on modernity, on the authors who are either beginning their path now or have emerged in the last 10-20 years. This is the generation of SFF writers who have experienced what few nations have since WWII and I believe that this is the generation that will produce some of the greatest books of SFF in the years ahead. With time and the help of translators from around the world we will share the texts that will connect our cultures. 

Slava Ukraini! Glory to Ukraine! 
Slava SFF! Glory to Science Fiction and Fantasy! Slava Ukrainski SFF! Glory to Ukrainian Science Fiction and Fantasy!

Michael Burianyk is a Canadian living in Nice, France. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Alberta, worked in the petroleum industry and has published two geophysical monographs. He has been a life long reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy and has profound interests in Ukrainian history, mythology and its genre literature. He has published an article on Ukrainian SFF in Locus Magazine and one on Ukrainian mythology for the Locus Guest Blog.