Victoria Amelina Reading Room Opens in Milan

The reading room named after Victoria Amelina opened at Gallaratese Library in Milan on March 26. PEN Ukraine shared the news on its Facebook page.

Christian Rocca, the editor-in-chief of the independent Italian online newspaper Linkiesta, proposed to name a reading room after Victoria Amelina. According to PEN Ukraine, his “newspaper has treated Victoria’s mission, which she carried out in her texts and actions, with responsibility and sincerity.”

The City Council of Milan supported Rocca’s initiative and found a suitable library room to commemorate Victoria Amelina. 

According to Linkiesta, Tommaso Sacchi, the Deputy Mayor for Culture, opened the ceremony. Rocca made a speech about Amelina and her contribution to the development of Ukrainian culture. 

Yaryna Grusha, Victoria’s friend and Italian translator, read an excerpt from the Italian translation of “Dom’s Dream Kingdom”, Amelina’s second novel. She also read the Italian translation of one of Victoria’s last poems and the original in Ukrainian. 

Svitlana Tkachenko, a Ukrainian activist in Milan, also read Victoria Amelina’s poems in Ukrainian and in Italian. Yaryna Grusha presented the library with a copy of the novel “Dom’s Dream Kingdom” in Ukrainian.

The participants also saw a video recording by the Italian writer Paolo Giordano featuring Kateryna Mikhalitsina, Victoria’s editor and friend, sharing her memories of Victoria.

Victoria Amelina was a Ukrainian writer, and the author of the novels “November Syndrome, or Homo Compatiens”, “Dom’s Dream Kingdom” and children’s books. She was also a volunteer, activist and public figure. In the months following Russia’s full-scale invasion, Victoria joined the Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds and went to the liberated territories of Ukraine to record the testimonies of war crimes committed by Russian occupying forces.

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Main image: writer’s Facebook page

Image: PEN Ukraine

Translation: Nataliia Grydasova

Copy editing: Mark Klenk