What We Defend: Poetry and Conversation with Yaryna Chornohuz

You are invited Monday November 9 at 5:00pm to a reading and discussion with Ukrainian poet Yaryna Chornohuz. The event will take place at the Max Kade Center for German-American Studies (1134 w. 11th st.).

Join Ukrainian poet and soldier Yaryna Chornohuz for readings from Nobody’s Saffron and [dasein: defence of presence], both translated by Amelia Glaser, and a conversation about the meeting of the ordinary and the extraordinary in wartime, the possibilities of poetic language, and how writing to comrades, to a daughter, and to future readers gives these poems their intimate form.

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Yaryna Chornohuz is a writer, a poet, and a sergeant in the Ukrainian Marine Corps. She first volunteered for Ukraine's defense effort in 2019 as a combat medic. She later joined the Marines and retrained as a drone pilot. As a service member, she has been awarded the medals For Saving a Life, For Military Service to Ukraine, and the Badge of Honor of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. Chornohuz is the author of three poetry collections – How the War Circle Bends (2020), [dasein: defense of presence] (2023), and Nobody’s Saffron (2025). Her first nonfiction book, documenting six years of her experience as a female combatant in Russia's war against Ukraine, is forthcoming in Ukrainian. She was awarded Ukraine's highest literary distinction, the Taras Shevchenko National Prize (2024), for [dasein: defense of presence], as well as the UN Women in Arts Award (2024). Her poetry has been translated into English, French, German, Polish, and other languages. She is a member of PEN Ukraine.

This talk is sponsored by Razom for Ukraine, the KU Center for Russian East European & Eurasian Studies, the KU Max Kade Center for German-American Studies, and the KU Dept. of Slavic, German, & Eurasian Studies.