Correspondence between poet and military man Pavlo Matyusha and his wife, literary agent Victoria Ma, to be made into a film

Correspondence between poet and military man Pavlo Matyusha and his wife, literary agent, executive director and founder of the OVO agency, Victoria Ma, published as a book “Lettres d’amour et de guerre” (Letters of Love and War), will be filmed, as reported by Suspilne Culture.

The book is based on real-life correspondence between a husband who was defending his country at that time and a wife who evacuated abroad to France.

“When I was asked if I was planning to write books, I responded that I was a literary agent and didn’t see myself as a writer. That’s exactly how I feel, but this story happened by itself,” Ma explained.

According to her, in June 2023, French reporter and Andre Londra Prize laureate Doan Bui contacted Victoria Ma and suggested that she and her husband Pavlo Matyusha keep a two-voice diary so that “the French audience would better understand what is going on in Ukraine and look at the war through the relationship of a couple separated by war and personal decisions.”

“It was an opportunity to keep talking about Ukraine. As long as we are heard and supported by ordinary people, there is unity among politicians. I agreed to write letters, not really thinking about the outcome. The diary, written in two voices, was published by L’Obs magazine. Later, very unexpectedly, these letters turned into a book, the pre-order of which was announced today by the French publishing house. I am honored to become the author of Éditions de L’Iconoclaste, and be a co-author with Pavlo and Doan. It’s a little scary to release this book, because it is quite personal, it contains a lot not only about Ukraine, about the war, but also about our lives, emotions, difficult decisions and even … an attempted divorce,” Ma said.

“Lettres d’amour et de guerre” was published in France by Éditions de L’Iconoclaste.

“When Russia started [a new phase] of the war, Victoria and her children left for France as refugees. Pavlo, as a father of four, could have gone with his family, but he went to the front line instead. Victoria is struggling every day, living far from her country, alone with four children, and can’t understand the choice Pavlo had made. In Kyiv, they meet Bui, the chief reporter for L’Obs. Bui suggested they start a correspondence. Intimate, life-saving, and powerful, these letters are a true testament to the reality of couples and families in wartime, of love and distance,” a representative of the publisher wrote.

The book will be filmed by Space Production, an international production and television content distributor. Executive producer Kateryna Laskari said that the book made her ponder upon the fact that Ukrainian children, growing up abroad, might be doomed to one day say that their relatives were from Ukraine but they do not speak Ukrainian language. Darya Legoni-Fialko, co-founder of Space Production, informed that her company will soon start working on a script. They signed an agreement to acquire the rights to the film.

Victoria Ma is a literary manager, translator, executive director, co-founder of the literary agency OVO, literary agent of Tamara Horikha-Zernya, Serhiy Demchuk, Kateryna Babkina, Pavlo Matyusha, Roksolana Sioma, Oleh Chaklun, and Artem Chapeye. Since 2004, she has been working as a high-level interpreter for international organizations, and since 2023 has been a member of the International Association of Conference Interpreters.

Pavlo Matyusha is a poet, prose writer, and translator. He translated poems by Paul Verlaine, Guillaume Apollinaire, Charles Baudelaire, and British and American poets. His translation of “Autumn Song” was included in the anthology of Ukrainian translations of this poem by Paul Verlaine. Matyusha is one of four translators of the Anthology of Young American Poetry, published by A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA in 2016. He authored the poetry collection “Paris. Spleen,” and a children’s book “Viyechka.” His debut novel was called “Kokliko.” From the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Matyusha served in the 47th Mechanized Brigade as a combat training officer.

Space Production is an international production and distribution company based in Kyiv and Paris. Co-founders and executive producers are Darya Legoni-Fialko and Kateryna Laskari. 

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