Sunflowers: Ukrainian Poetry on War, Resistance, Hope, and Peace Book Trailer. To buy, CLIK HERE
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Irvine, California, USA (November 21, 2022) – River Paw Press is pleased to announce the publication of Sunflowers: Ukrainian Poetry on War, Resistance, Hope and Peace, edited by Indian-American poet and filmmaker Kalpna Singh-Chitnis.
The anthology, published on Ukraine Defenders Day (October 14, 2022), contains the works of seventy-eight Ukrainian poets, translators, and anglophone poets from around the world in solidarity with Ukraine.
100% of the net proceeds from the book’s Pre-Sale were donated to support Ukraine TrustChain and Chytomo, two volunteer-based organizations working in Ukraine to help people affected by the war and to promote Ukrainian literature internationally.
But we aren’t over with our commitments to supporting Ukrainian causes and resistance. One can still donate to our chosen charities directly and help send vital messages by signing the petition to the Director-General of UNESCO, our poet colleagues, and people of goodwill. The petition started by Sunflowers contributor and ZSU veteran Volodymyr Tymchuk can be viewed and signed on Change.Org.
We also want to acknowledge how proud we are of publishing the works of the Sunflowers poets to bring out a profound anthology finely produced by River Paw Press. Every work we publish is important to us, and all our authors are worthy of mention. We especially want to recognize Anatoliy Anatoliy, Volodymyr Tymchuk, and Serhii Rubnikovych, currently serving in the Ukrainian military (ZSU) to defend their country’s freedom under Russian attack, and Vitalii Naida, a Senior Police Lieutenant in Kharkiv, working to support and protect the lives of his people affected by this gruesome war.
Nobel prize in literature nominee Serhiy Zhadan, Lyudmyla Khersonska, Olaf Clemensen, Iya Kiva, Yuliya Musakovska, Olena O’Lear, Anatoliy Anatoliy, Volodymyr Tymchuk, Valentyna Davydenko, Stanislav Belsky and several other poets from Ukraine bring insight into the trauma and destructions caused by the Ukrainian war and the collateral damage the world faces in their poetry published in Sunflowers. Among the anglophone poets and translators like Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach, Olga Livshin, R.B. Lemberg, Olena Jennings, Ella Yevtushenko, and other international poets with Ukrainian roots add more perspectives to the book. Chytomo, under the leadership of Oleksandr Mymruk and Victoria Feshchuk, generously contributes to adding new Ukrainian voices to the Sunflowers anthology. The presence of all mentioned here and missed due to the word limit for our press release add merits to the Sunflowers anthology, and we admirably share everyone’s works with our readers.
The book cover of Sunflowers has been created with captivating images captured by Guryan and Cherisha Norman. It symbolizes the resilience of Ukraine rising from the ashes of its charred sunflower fields to reclaim its lands and freedom to bloom like flowers facing the sun, which have become the symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
Sunflowers: Ukrainian Poetry on War, Resistance, Hope and Peace, set for the official book launch on Sunday, November 27, 2022, has earned immense praise from poets, writers, academicians and defenders of Ukraine. We are honored to quote some of them here.
“This anthology is a moving and powerful testament to what poetry can do to both report from the times of crisis and uplift us in such times. Herein American audiences will find both legendary poets, already known here, and new voices whose work inspires and pays tribute to their country as it is invaded while the rest of the world watches on. What moves me most is the details, nuances, memorable phrases that show the momentary flashes of clarity are possible, despite all the odds. I am grateful to all who did the translation and editorial work to make this volume possible, and I hope it finds many readers. These moving voices from a war zone deserve to be heard.” ~ Ilya Kaminsky
“Admirably diverse in the approaches and styles, as well in the backgrounds of poets and translators participating, this anthology gathers voices of poets in Ukraine and globally speaking up about the resilience of Ukrainians resisting Russia’s brutal invasion and sharing deep emotional truth about the horrors of war. Moving and essential reading.” ~ Vitaly Chernetsky
“Sunflowers,” edited by Kalpna, discovers the truth from the early “landscape” of struggle, dignity, and bravery hidden from the world, which now lies bare on both banks of the Dnipro river in Ukraine. The poems in this book are from the shores of true Ukrainian life. “But why aren’t we dead, our Lieutenant?” (Anatoliy Anatoliy). Let’s take a look at the book to find it out. ~ Volodymyr Tymchuk
“When faced with “Something more dreadful than life, death, war, / or things you could never even imagine, / more dreadful than things you could never recall,” as Iya Kiva puts in in her haunting poem, “The Land of Fear,” in Yuliya Musakovska’s powerful translation, humans still turn to art just as sunflowers turn, always, towards the sun, or as is the case of the pages of Sunflowers, to poetry. This remarkable anthology brings together voices of poets responding to the war against Ukraine from across the globe and across languages. Poems by Ukrainian poets in Ukraine and abroad-present in their Cyrillic originals and translations-along with those by their anglophone allies from around the world form a chorus of endurance, resistance, and hope. In the face of atrocity, Sunflowers reminds us how poetry remains an unwavering home for both writer and reader, capable of building community, bridging divides of oceans and languages, and taking much needed action in a fracturing world.” ~ Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach
“The bilingual anthology “Sunflowers,” in Ukrainian and English languages, edited by Kalpna Singh-Chitnis, shows the solidarity of authors and translators from Ukraine, the USA, and other countries on the literary front, against the aggression unleashed by Russia on Ukrainian people and army not only on the battlefield but also on the terrain of Ukrainian culture, and literature, in particular, to justify and glorify its erroneous actions and humiliate the peoples it SEEKS TO CONQUER. The poems in this book are about the painful losses of the Ukrainian people, their resistance, and hope for their victory and peace. ~ Olena O’Lear
River Paw Press nominates for the 2022 Pushcart Prize
The poems from “Sunflowers: Ukrainian Poetry on War Resistance Hope and Peace” have earned four Pushcart Prize nominations in 2022. More on this will be announced in a press release on November 28, 2022.
“Sunflowers: Ukrainian Poetry on War Resistance Hope and Peace,” Book Launch
Join us for the book launch of “Sunflowers: Ukrainian Poetry on War Resistance Hope and Peace” on Sunday, November 27, 2022, at 10.30 am PST and 20:30 (Ukraine Time) on River Paw Press’ YouTube channel and be a part of our celebrated mission.
River Paw Press
Creative Activism in Words and Action
Media Contact: Nirvana
Phone: 949-394-5148
Email: pr.riverpawpress@gmail.com
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To buy the book, CLICK HERE
To buy the book, CLICK HERE
