Czech writer Igor Malijevský: “I will make every effort to speak passionately about Kharkiv and Ukraine”

The Czech poet and photographer Igor Malijevský has arrived to work at the Slovo Writers’ House in Kharkiv. After February 2022, he and the members of Czech Writers’ Association issued a statement on Wenceslas Square in support of Ukraine. Malijevský has been to Ukraine several times since 2014.

In Kharkiv, the artist plans to collect ideas for his poetry and photography. He will also share Ukrainian news in Czechia through planned publications in magazines and radio interviews.

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“…Ukraine has asserted itself on the global stage, notwithstanding the profound adversities it has faced. Now, the world acknowledges Ukraine’s significance fully. Throughout this period, numerous initiatives, activities, and collaborations between the Czech and Ukrainian intellectuals have flourished. I would particularly highlight the Authors’ Reading Month, the literary festival that has played a pivotal role in fostering connections between our nations. Ukrainian literature and art, as well as music, are well-known to Czech intellectuals today,” he said in an interview with Suspilne, the national public broadcaster in Ukraine.

“Part of my work here is to ensure that news from Ukraine reaches Czechia. We have agreements in place for publication in prestigious magazines and journals, and we have arranged interviews for radio broadcasts. I will make every effort to speak passionately about Kharkiv and Ukraine. My aim is to narrate the story in such a captivating manner that we will see an influx of Czech visitors here in the summer,” he added.

As reported, the revival of literary residencies in Kharkiv at the Slovo Writers’ House was announced at the end of 2023.

Igor Malijevský is a Czech poet, photographer and writer. Malijevský has published several collections of poems and short stories, and his writings can be found in several anthologies, including “Best European Fiction 2018.” His most recently published book is the novel “Otevřený prostor” (“Open Plan” Argo, 2019). In his photographic work, Malijevský primarily creates unmanipulated black-and-white photographs, continuing a strong tradition of poetic realism in Czech photography. After manually enlarging his works in a darkroom, he destroys the negatives.

The Slovo Writers’ House or the Slovo House is a residential house for cultural figures of Ukraine built in 1929. In the 20th century, it was a home for around 200 notable writers, playwrights, literature critics, translators, actors, artists, and sculptors. Among its famous residents in the 1930s were Ukrainian writer, humorist and satirist Ostap Vyshnia; novelist, poet and publicist Mykola Hvylyovy; poets Volodymyr Sosiura and Pavlo Tychyna; poet, founder and theoretician of Ukrainian futurism Mykhail Semenko; Ukrainian poet, prose writer, dramatist, translator, critic and linguist Mike Johansen, and many others. In 2019, the building was designated as a cultural landmark in Ukraine. The building is shaped as the letter “C,” the first letter of the Ukrainian word “слово” (“slovo,” meaning “word”). As previously reported, Russian occupation forces badly damaged the Slovo Writers’ House in Kharkiv.

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Source: Suspilne Kharkiv

Main photo: Valeriіa Іemets / Suspilne Kharkiv

Translation: Marta Horishna

Editing: Tanya Mykhaylychenko