Main reading - Lyuba Yakimchuk

Poetry International is excited to welcome Lyuba Yakimchuk (UKR) to the festival as part of the European Versopolis platform, which offers a stage for rising European poetic talents. Yakimchuk, a powerful new voice in contemporary Ukrainian poetry, will share her compelling work that speaks to the ongoing war in Ukraine and its profound effects on language and identity. This reading will be hosted by Jelle van Riet.

As part of her participation, we are releasing a special trilingual booklet containing her poems, which will be distributed for free to attendees, allowing you to take her evocative poetry home with you. This is a unique opportunity to experience the raw emotion and vivid imagery of a poet whose work has been translated into over 25 languages and has garnered global recognition. Don't miss this chance to hear one of Europe's brightest poetic stars live at Poetry International!

Lyuba Yakimchuk’s attendance in this event was made possible by the Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds and Ukranian Institute.

Lyuba Yakimchuk

Lyuba Yakimchuk is a Ukrainian poet, writer, playwright, and performance artist. She grew up in Pervomaisk, Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, and earned her Master's degree from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in 2011. Her work is praised for its bold language, and she was named one of the hundred most influential people in the Ukrainian arts by The New Voice of Ukraine.

Yakimchuk has published two poetry collections, including Apricots of Donbas (2015), which describes the war in Ukraine and was awarded the International Poetic Award by the Kovalev Foundation in New York. Her poetry has been translated into more than 25 languages and has appeared worldwide in publications like The New York Times and BBC. She performed her poem Prayer at the 2022 Grammy Awards.