Ukrainian war writers to mentor emerging authors in Dublin literary project

Ukrainian writers and veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian War Dmytro Krapyvenko, Yevhen Shybalov, and Alina Sarnatska will take part in “Bridging the Distance: Ukrainian and Irish Literary Voices,” a Ukrainian-Irish literary project for emerging Ukrainian writers living in Ireland.

The project is organized by the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Ireland, PEN Ukraine, and Irish PEN, with support from the Culture Helps Solidarity program.

Its first stage will be a three-day literary workshop in Dublin from Sept. 11–13 for emerging Ukrainian writers currently living in Ireland. Ukrainian war writers and veterans will travel to Ireland specifically for the workshop and, together with Irish authors, will mentor participants.

After the workshop, participants will develop a joint collection of original essays addressing challenges facing Europe and the wider world. The volume is planned for publication in both Ukrainian and English and will be presented in Ireland and Ukraine.

The workshop will also include two public events at Trinity College Dublin.

On Sept. 11, performative readings will feature “Victoria’s Little Secrets” by Alina Sarnatska and “The Woman with the Fridge” by Marta Shyiko.

On Sept. 12, “The Reality of a Soldier: Through Humor and Irony” will bring together Yevhen Shybalov and Dmytro Krapyvenko. They will speak about their military experiences and present their books “The Game of Numbers” and “Everything in Three Letters” to local Ukrainian and Irish audiences.

Krapyvenko is a Ukrainian journalist and publicist who served as editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Week from 2014 to 2021 and has served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since February 2022. He is also featured in Chytomo and PEN Ukraine’s “Words and Bullets” project, which documents Ukrainian writers and journalists who became soldiers or volunteers after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

As reported earlier, “Words and Bullets” was presented at Listowel Writers’ Week in Ireland in 2025, where the project introduced Irish audiences to wartime testimonies and addressed Russia’s destruction of Ukrainian culture, the documentation of war crimes, and the preservation of memory.

The project has been directly affected by Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s publishing infrastructure. The entire first print run of “Words and Bullets” was destroyed in the May 23, 2024 Russian missile strike on the Factor-Druk printing house in Kharkiv. The attack killed seven employees and severely damaged one of Ukraine’s largest printing facilities. The book was later reprinted and released in Ukrainian.

The Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Ireland, one of the organizers of “Bridging the Distance,” was established in 2025 to promote Ukrainian culture, contemporary art, and language and to build lasting cultural ties between Ukrainians and Irish audiences. Its founder, journalist and cultural manager Natalya Korniyenko, also coordinates the “Words and Bullets” project.

The initiative is intended to create longer-term connections between Ukrainian and Irish literary communities and encourage future cooperation between writers and cultural institutions in both countries.

Culture Helps Solidarity is co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the European Cultural Foundation in the Netherlands, Insha Osvita in Ukraine, zusa in Germany, and the Veteranka Movement in Ukraine.