The War in Ukraine and its Impact on Ukrainians: A Personal Perspective featuring Andrey Kurkov
Mon, May 9, 2022 5:00 PM at International Center 303
Speaker's bio:
Andrey Kurkov is one of Ukraine's most renowned authors and public intellectuals. He is the author of 20 books and 10 books for children. His work is currently translated into 37 languages, including English, Japanese, French, Chinese, Swedish and Hebrew. He has also written assorted articles for various publications worldwide including New York Times, The Guardian, New Statesman, La Liberation, Le Monde, Die Welt, Die Zeit. Apart from literature Andrey Kurkov in regularly involved in filmscript-writing. His of film adaption of "The Matter of Life and Death" got him shortlisted for Best European Filmscript-Writer of the Year Award in Berlin 1997. (The film's title is "The Friend of the Deceased" (France-Ukraine 1997)).The same year he was invited to join the European Film Academy.
Andrey Kurkov is the President of PEN Ukraine, a non-profit dedicated to protecting authors' freedom of speech. He often runs literary workshops, also for very young participants teaching them to write children's stories. In 2008-2010, as a jury member, he was on the board of the Man Booker International Prize. He himself got the Readers' Prize in Basel (Switzerland) in 2002, Writer of the Year in 2001 (Ukraine), International Nikolai Gogol Prize (Rome, Italy, 2012), The Reader's Choice Prize for "The Gardener of Ochakov" (Cognack, France, 2012). His books are full of black humour, post-Soviet reality and elements of surrealism.
Under the current circumstances, Kurkov directs all his attention to Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine and Ukrainians. His articles are published and shared around the world, and he regularly speaks to international audiences about the reality of living through a 21st century war of aggression against his own country.