Talismans, Kit Lists, and Recipes for Survival: Creative Writing Workshop

A renaissance of poetry is happening in Ukraine now among soldiers and civilians of a kind unparalleled in Europe since the First World War. What can we learn from Ukrainian wartime poetry about what truly matters?

In this workshop, Prof. Hugh Roberts, who has been coordinating translations of this work will share poems by the soldier and member of Ukraine's Cultural Forces, Fedir Rudyi, and Victoria Amelina, the novelist turned war crimes investigator who was killed by a Russian missile strike on a pizza restaurant in summer 2023 and whose posthumous Looking at Women Looking at War was recently published to much acclaim.

You'll then be guided through activities, taking inspiration from the poems to produce your own kit lists and recipes for survival. The workshop will also give insights into culture and creativity as forms of resistance and resilience.

The workshop is suitable for anyone aged 12 or over.