The Ukraine Shelf
The Ukraine Shelf
Podcast Description
In this podcast, Dr Olesya Khromeychuk and Dr Uilleam Blacker speak to leading authors, intellectuals, scholars and journalists about Ukraine and its place in the world.Ukraine is at the centre of world events today, and understanding the country’s politics, history and culture has never been more important. The Ukraine Shelf talks to leading authors, intellectuals, scholars and journalists about what we should be reading to understand Ukraine and its place in the world. The Ukraine Shelf is co-sponsored by the UCL European Institute, the Ukrainian Institute London, and the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, with the support of the British Academy.The podcast is presented by Dr Olesya Khromeychuk and Dr Uilleam Blacker.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on topics related to Ukraine's politics, history, and culture, featuring episodes that delve into significant historical events such as the annexation of Crimea and thematic discussions around contemporary literature, with specific episodes like the one discussing Rory Finnin's book Blood of Others exploring the historical context and impact of these events.
In this podcast, Dr Olesya Khromeychuk and Dr Uilleam Blacker speak to leading authors, intellectuals, scholars and journalists about Ukraine and its place in the world.
Ukraine is at the centre of world events today, and understanding the country’s politics, history and culture has never been more important. The Ukraine Shelf talks to leading authors, intellectuals, scholars and journalists about what we should be reading to understand Ukraine and its place in the world. The Ukraine Shelf is co-sponsored by the UCL European Institute, the Ukrainian Institute London, and the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, with the support of the British Academy.
The podcast is presented by Dr Olesya Khromeychuk and Dr Uilleam Blacker.
In this episode we spoke to the prominent Ukrainian writer and soldier Artem Chapeye and translator Daisy Gibbons. Our wide-ranging discussion covered what it means to write dystopian novels in Ukraine today; how to find the balance between the particular and the universal when writing about Ukraine and why Ukrainian experiences should be seen as part of world literature; what it means to be a writer-soldier; and the challenges of translating various genres and wartime experiences into English. Our discussion focused mainly on Artem’s brilliant dystopian novel The Weathering.
Books discussed:
- Artem Chapeye, The Weathering, transl. Daisy Gibbons (Seven Stories Press, 2026)
- Artem Chapeye, The Ukraine, transl. Zenia Tompkins (Seven Stories, 2024)
- Artem Chapeye, Ordinary People Don’t Carry Machine Guns (Seven Stories Press, 2026)
- Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi, Fata Morgana (1904/1910)
- Sofia Andrukhovych, Amadoka (Old Lion Publishing, 2020; forthcoming with Simon and Schuster 2027)
Guests’ recommendations:
- Artur Dron, Hemingway Knows Nothing, transl. by Hanna Leliv (Jantar, 2026)
- Ivan Bahrianyi, Sad Hetsymans’kyi (The Garden of Gethsemane, 1950 – not yet available in English)
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