Trilingual magazine “Radar” resumes work

After a ten-year break (aside from a special edition), the trilingual Polish-Ukrainian-German literary magazine “Radar” resumes its work, as announced by Ukrainian poet and one of the magazine’s co-founders Ostap Slyvynsky.

“Radar” is an international literary magazine that was published in German, Polish, and Ukrainian languages in 2010-2014. The idea behind “Radar” was to establish a shared space for dialogue between authors from various parts of Europe who were participating in the Villa Decius literary residency.

The magazine’s innovative format was aimed at offering a trilateral perspective on the shared experiences of Poles, Germans, and Ukrainians. Ten editions were released between 2010 and 2014. Among the contributing authors were Serhiy Zhadan, Ursula Kiermeier, Igor Stokfiszewski, Birgit Bauer, Robert Ostaszewski, Małgorzata Buchalik, Iryna Chadarenko, and others.

“Radar” was created in 2010 by Ukrainian, Polish, and German authors and translators who gathered around the Villa Decius cultural center in Krakow,” “Radar” co-founder Ostap Slyvynsky told Chytomo in an exclusive interview.

“At that time, we had a feeling that we had much more in common in terms of shared topics, feelings, images, and experiences than we thought, and that, despite different languages, we were in the same shared boat, that we were almost one literature. It was then that the concept of ‘supranational literature’ emerged. This culture transcends state and cultural borders, and it is enough to overcome the barrier of language for complete mutual understanding to occur.”

The project aimed at breaking the language barrier between Ukrainian, Polish, and German authors and readers. “We wanted the magazine’s content to be published in three languages so that everyone could read. The idea was very ambitious. Trilingual editions are rare because they require extensive and well-coordinated efforts from translators and editors. Nevertheless, we succeeded,” Slyvynsky recalls.

Slyvynsky added that their authors wanted to discover a shared sense of Europe that could unite diverse voices — from the “old” Europe to the “Europe of aspirations.” “This idea was particularly significant for Ukrainians. It was emancipatory,” Slyvynsky said.

The names of such Ukrainian authors as Oleh Lysheha, Kost Moskalets, Kseniya Kharchenko, Bohdana Matiiash, Pavlo Korobchuk, Iryna Shuvalova, and Julia Stakhivska were first published in Polish and German in “Radar.”

“Some of the first publications of Sofia Andrukhovych’s and Kateryna Kalytko’s works in these languages were in ‘Radar’,” notes Slyvynsky. The magazine also helped popularize Polish and German authors among Ukrainian readers.

Each issue had an exclusive design created by Pracownia Grafiki, the Warsaw-based agency. “It was crucial that all readers received a work of art, not just a magazine,” said the co-founder.

In 2014, the publication of the magazine stopped. Euromaidan and the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war seriously challenged the idea of a “shared boat.”

“Ukrainian experience was no longer enough to ‘just translate.’ The sense of unity faded,” Slyvynsky says. In 2015, the funding of the project was terminated as a result of a change of political leadership in Poland.

The new issue features poetry, prose, and drama by such renowned writers and poets as Yaryna Chornohuz, Dagmara Kraus, Olena Stiazhkina, Magda Fertach, Nina Zakhozhenko, and Klaus Martin. Literary Kharkiv is given a special focus, which is highlighted in an interview by Ivanna Skyba-Yakubova with Olha Bondar-Riznychenko. All texts are published in three languages.

“We are building the new ‘Radar’ on ideas that are a bit different. Not on unity, but on connections. We live in a world where we must carefully explain things to one another, and not assume that simply translating them will make everything clear,” said Slyvynsky.

The new team and the previous project participants worked on the issue, including Jan Burnatowski, Pawel Lyzhwinski, Sylwia Milkowska, Renata Serednicka, Urszula Piecek, Natalka Sniadanko, and Andreas Volk.

The new edition is currently available online. The print version will soon be available.

Read the archive here.

As reported earlier, a special edition of the magazine was released in 2023, focusing on the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine and the changes it caused.

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Main image: willadecjusza.pl

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn