The Slovo Writers’ House in Kharkiv will again open its doors for artists

A new series of residencies for artists created at the initiative of PEN Ukraine and the Kharkiv Literary Museum will be relaunched in the Slovo Writers’ House in Kharkiv, as reported by Tetyana Pylypchuk, Director of the Kharkiv Literary Museum.

The Slovo Residency is a project aimed to allow writers, artists and researchers to work on their projects in a comfortable atmosphere, immersing into the urban context of Kharkiv. The term of the residency is from three weeks to a month. Partners of the Kharkiv Literary Museum will select and invite 24 participants (12 from Ukraine and 12 from the Czech Republic).

“The residency will function the way it did before. It will include cultural programs, home concerts, creative meetings, cultural podcasts and posts on social media by our residents,” said Tetyana Pylypchuk.

Ukrainian residents who need to stay in Kharkiv to create their work will be selected. Writers, journalists, philosophers and playwrights are free to apply, but text will be the main focus of the work. The open call will be announced at the end of 2023 or at the beginning of the next year.

The Slovo Writers’ House or the Slovo House is a residential house for cultural figures of Ukraine, during many decades of 20th century it was populated by around 200 of notable writers, playwrights, literature critics, translators, actors and actresses, artists, sculptors. Among famous residents of 1930-s 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 included in the State Register of Immovable Landmarks of Ukraine. The very shape of the building reflects the letter C or S,the first letter of “слово” or “word.” As previously reported, Russian occupation forces badly damaged the Slovo Writers’ House in Kharkiv.

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Main image: Pavlo Stekh