New Poetry Book Gives Ukrainian Refugees a Space for Creativity and Self-Expression
Published: 16 September 2024
May 2024 saw the publication of Власними словами | In Our Own Words (Tapsalteerie Press), a multilingual collection of original poems and translations produced by Ukrainian refugees, with the help of other Glaswegians. The book is one of the products of a series of AHRC-sponsored workshops designed to use creative writing and translation to foster community and creativity.
In November 2023, twenty strangers met in a room in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. Half of them had recently arrived in Scotland from Ukraine; the other half had been in Glasgow longer, but
many of them had once come from further afield too. They were brought together by a shared interest in language and creativity, by the desire to learn more about each other and by the hope
of making connections – between languages and lives, between words and worlds.
'Власними словами | In Our Own Words: Poems, Translations and the Many Languages of Home, from Ukraine to Glasgow' is an attempt to capture the experience of that exchange for posterity, to record the fleeting interactions between people, places and languages that took place over the three workshops of the project Власними словами | In Our Own Words in winter 2023.
You can see an online version of the book, and also listen to a podcast about its creation here: https://kmackinnon.org/%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8-%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8-in-our-own-words-sharing-words-sharing-worlds/.
The book features poems and translations in Ukrainian, Russian, English, Scots, Gaelic, Urdu, Gujarati and many more, as well as beautiful illustrations and design by local Ukrainian artists. Among the contributors are SMLC alumni Paulina Zurakowska and Christine Bird. For those seeking to understand the project and its context better, there is an introduction by project leaders Dr James Rann (SMLC) and Katherine Mackinnon (Humanities).
If you would be interested in receiving a physical copy of the book, please write to james.rann@glasgow.ac.uk.
In Our Own Words was made possible by funding from an AHRC Impact Accelerator Award and was delivered in partnership with the Associations of Ukrainians in Great Britain, Scottish Refugee Council and the CCA.
First published: 16 September 2024
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