2012 Rights Catalogue Calvaria

Calvaria Publishing House

Contact person: Anetta Antonenko anetta@calvaria.org www.calvaria.org Phone/fax +38-044-486-03-30 12 ap., 32-B, Gogolivska str.

Kyiv, UA-01054, Ukraine

Contemporary Ukrainian Writers 2012

I have a conviction that Russian and Ukrainian literature fall under different rules. While Russian literature follows the rules of slow fading away, world literature goes in bursts, as it constantly feels a lack of fresh blood. This is why it would always find a niche for new literatures from Eastern Europe or Latin America…

The contemporary Ukrainian literature is now on the ascent and has a wonderful chance of growing into a significant European trend.

After the collapse of socialism a vacuum was created in Ukrainian literature, and into this void gushed first translated literature from West and later Russian literary merchandise. It is this situation that provided a possibility for fresh and brave Ukrainian creative youth to mature and get angry...

And their drive is what helps authors from the older generation. A dog to win the race should chase some mechanic rabbit. Ukrainian writers of the older formation do not need one as they have the literary youth to follow. And there are no young generation authors of the like in Europe…

Andrey Kurkov Writer and scriptwriter, Kyiv

…there (in Ukraine) a massive explosion took place… This wave is the brightest phenomenon in all the whole post-Soviet literature within the past 7 or 8 years. I can see no explosions of this kind in contemporary Russian literature.

Aleksandr Ivanov Editor-in-chief Ad Marginem Publishing House, Moscow

Ukrainian literature attracts the European reader with it’s “inter”mentality. I mean not only the difference between East and West.

There is a whole range of linguistic, religious and geopolitical factors making Ukrainian literature capable of transgression and crossing borders and mentality stereotypes. It is also capable of bringing a lot of new things into the European mind-set. When I read Ukrainian authors I have a strong feeling that they are aware of this ‘inter’ position... It is quite possible that this is where the original imaginativeness peculiar of Ukrainian literature since Gogol’s time descends from. This special kind of imaginativeness connects the sensual experience to spiritual dimensions and transcendent things...

Olaf Kühl (Germany) Councillor of the President of the city of Berlin on Russia, Ukraine and Belarus East Europe historian Literary translator from Polish and Ukrainian

AUTHORS’ INDEX 4 7 9 11 13 16 18 21 22 23 25 27 28

Lyubko Deresh Oksana Forostyna Tymofiy Havryliv Yurko Izdryk Eugeniya Kononenko Leonid Kononovych Vasyl Kozhelyanko Taras Prokhasko Iren Rozdobudko Vasyl Shklyar Alla Syerova Halyna Tkachuk Natalka Zabramska

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Lyubko DERESH

CULT KULT

Lyubko DERESH (1984) Lyubko Deresh is a young and yet famous Ukrainian author.

Born in Lviv, he studied economics in the University of Lviv.

But from an early age he dreamed to be a doctor. The anatomy atlases of his mother were so bright and intriguing, that he decided to become a surgeon at the age of 7. His father knew nothing about Lyubko’s fragile dreams. He wanted Lyubko to indulge in sports, for example rowing. In opposition to him Lyubko decided to practice music, so he started to play the saxophone at a local music school. At the age of 14 Lyubko Deresh left school for a Physical-Mathematical Liceum in Lviv, and studied Chemistry and Biology there. It was a good step from his side to accomplish his intents to become a doctor. Till that moment he changed his mind just a little: now Lyubko dreamed to be a psychiatrist. Lyubko imagined psychiatry to be almost as bright way of living life as becoming a surgeon, but — more intelligent.

Deresh has written two books for younger children, a number of essays and five novels: Kult (Cult), Pokloninnya yaschirzi (Worshiping the Lizard), ARCHE, Namir! (Aim!) and Trohy pitmy (A Bit of Darkness). The media have proclaimed him a Ukrainian Stephen King, and every one of Deresh’s new books arouses great interest of both his fans and the press.

Several prominent Ukrainian publishing houses have bought licenses to print his books, and four of his novels have been released as audio books. Deresh’s works have been translated into several languages and printed in Poland, Germany, France and Italy. Currently, Bulgarian and Romanian versions of his books are scheduled to be published.

Dystopia, Horror&Thriller, Mystery & Mystique, Young Adult/Teenager Fiction (Age 14–19)

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“Cult” is a youth novel close by its genre to an adventure detective story and containing elements of mystic. It has something in common with the mythology by Howard Lovecraft as well as by rock and drug subcultures. Stylistically it is close to Steven King’s prose.

The main character, a University student of the Biology Department Yurko Banzaj comes to have his teaching practice in the town of Midni Buky. Here he falls in love with his highschool student, an informal outsider Darka Borkhes. The local drunkard Roman Korij works as a school watchman but in fact he is an infernal powers envoy and possesses the mysterious library of ancient books. Banzaj experiments on consciousness and practices controlled dreams where Korij emerges more and oftener. Banzaj experiences a couple of hallucinogenic visions that give him knowledge of the world’s mystic structure, deities, angels, demons as well of the fact that in the school basement there is an exit, a mystic “tunnel” to the space where outcast Jog-Sotot spends his exile. In order to implement his plans Korij inflicts an epidemic to the school with the help of black magic.

Classes stop and teachers start killing each other. Looking for some key to this situation Banzaj and Dartsja go down to the school basement. They see Korij there. Korij summons demon Azazot. Then mystic battle takes place in which Dartsja, Banzaj and Korij perish. After that Darka and Banzaj find themselves in the sketchy Paradise. ... This book lures you in through its naivety, its directness, its coolness, its fear; everything is inside this book: love, romance, a quest that makes your head expand and then explode, the eternal drama of youth and also the mocking look of all those who felt they were too good for this drama and chose to live in a world without mystery.

Die Zeit Granted licenses: Bulgaria (Издателство РИВА) France (Editions Stock) Germany (Suhrkamp Verlag) Italy (LAIN-Fazi Editore) Poland (Prószynski I S-ka SA). The term of the license is over Romania (Curtea Veche Publishing) Serbia (Narodna Kniiga-Alfa). The term of the license is over Ukraine (trade edition, Folio Publishing House) Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Germany (radio-reading, West German Radio, Köln) Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Ukraine (screen adoption, digital HD video fi lm, Svetofor Film LLC) Publication of extracts in other languages: 2008, Dutch 2009, English

Right Catalog: Fiction

Lyubko DERESH

ARCHE ARKHE

WORSHIPPING THE LIZARD POKLONINNYA YASHCHIRTSI The novel is a youth adventure story with elements of fantasy and mystic. The action takes place in the country town Midni Buky (permanent toponymy of Deresh’s novels resembling Yoknapatawpha County by Faulkner). The main character, a university student Mis’ko comes home for holiday. In the center of the town there is a Hyacinth House — the former pension and now the abandoned place where homeless live about which somber legends and fabulous rumors are spread.

Idyllic vacation of Mis’ko and his hippy-friends Dzvinka and Fat Hippy has been spoiled by pathological fear of a guy Fedja who hates informal people according to the consistency of “a man with firm ideological principles of the skinhead”.

Dzvinka fell in love with Mis’ko. They together go hiking to the mountain lake. On the way back Dzvinka tells that Fedja tried to rape her, Fat Hippy stood up for her and Fedja took a dreadful revenge on him.

Mis’ko, Fat Hippy and Dzvinka decide to kill Fedja. They thoroughly plan the murder and come to a determination to kill him during the final prom. They decoy Fedja into the trap, kill him and sink his corps in the closest swamp.

They come back home and not only evade criminal penalty but even do not experience any remorse. So, in the end we have not only denouement but also the usual portion of Deresh’s irony. This time it concerns the cheap moralizing often encountered the genre pop-culture, especially in horror movies for teenagers.

This is humorous and ironical interpretation of the collusion theory issue that is highly exploited in the modern pop-culture.

The main character unexpectedly discovers the mystery of the ecumenical collusion which he has to reveal and to do away with it. Though the ecumenical collusion according to Deresh is not an instrument for the manipulation aimed at getting power and wealth. Besides, “Secret order” involves no powers brokers, wizards or elite representatives but rather invisible demiurges playing with this world because they know the secretive mechanics of existence. At the same time the illusion surrounding those “uninitiated” is the ordinary Euclidian geometry taught at school. Grotesque nature of this intrigue is stressed by the author with the help of the fact that the collusion theory itself and the means of opposing it are declared and performed by people representing youth drug culture. Besides everything takes place in their consciousness which is deformed by psychoactive agents. The story is developing amidst weird, often tumbledown and abandoned buildings and places of present-day Lviv. Representatives of different youth subculture backgrounds meet there. The novel reveals peculiar features of concourses and rituals of “urban subcultures”… Main characters of the novel travel around Lviv like in the labyrinth. The story abounds in dynamic adventures, unexpected denouements and uncommon observations. Deresh himself also appears in his text as the author and as a character as well. He uses universal cultural codes which help the book to be popular and comprehensible for the wide reading audience.

Granted licenses: Germany (Suhrkamp Verlag) Poland (Prószynski I S-ka SA). The term of the license is over.

Ukraine (trade edition, Folio Publishing House) Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Awards: prize-winner of readers’ rating of Korrespondent magazine in 2006

Granted licenses: Germany (Suhrkamp Verlag) Ukraine (trade edition, Folio Publishing House) Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Germany (theatre play, Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar) Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Awards: prize-winner of the national Ukrainian rating “Book of the Year — 2003”

The requests for authorization to publish English and Dutch language editions of Deresh's works should be directed to Mr. Markus Hoffmann at Regal Literary, Inc. 1140 Broadway, Penthouse, New York, NY 10001, USA E-mail: markus@regal-literary.com

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Right Catalog: Fiction

JACOB’S HEAD (NEW BOOK) GOLOVA JAKOVA This is story about exile and homecoming.

This book is about destiny, and it in the center of it is a composer who decided to check up whether music influences the world. “While writing the novel, music was of great interest to me, as well as the ability of a musical work to influence the reality” – admitted Liubko Deresh.

A genius composer Jacob receives from his brother, who is a political technologist, an unusual offer: to compose a symphony for EURO-2012. His customers are mysterious dark fathers.

Is not he to create a music prologue for Apocalypse? His home turns into an art-prison. And despite the constant presence of four women-muses in his life, a single note does not sound in Jacob’s head. The composer founds himself before a choice: to write the Anthem of Apocalypse and thus cooperate with the dark forces or to oppose the evil.

Very different types of people are intertwined in the novel.

Here you can see brother, infected by erosion of power, and a lustful Greek woman, a mysterious curator, a typical blond woman, and a teenage photographer. The contrast of the characters astounds, because in the novel one can recognize more or less the whole city’s “beau monde”. And moreover, such topics as what eats, what listens, what puts on and where makes sex typical citizen of Kyiv — a local one or a newcomer.

“My book is the state of consciousness in which everything is mixed: different psychotechnics, psychotechnologies together with desire to consume more, consume something else, consume better. May be this is “that Biblical Jacob” whose struggle with angel is yet to take place, and one has yet to see him.

But, in the first place, this is story about modern young person who has lost himself in the information flaw” Liubko Deresh This novel is about the things we like to conceal with something else instead of acknowledgement: our problems arise from our actions.

The main character Jacob has his own theory concerning existence of two heads. First of them – “subjective head”, this one is conditionally real. Second –“objective head”, it is external. Exactly the latter is visible to others. There is a tacit pact in regard to this head. “Objective head” must look “normal”, and then nobody will notice the weirdness of the “subjective head”.

Another apparent allusion – is Biblical character Jacob. He is Abraham’s grandson, Isaac’s son, shepherd who by a number of traits can resemble Abel. In the Biblical story about Jacob there is one phantasmagorical episode I like most of all. This is dream in which Jacob saw a ladder between the sky and the Earth and on which angels descended from heaven.

This episode is used in the novel implicitly. According to the plot, Jacob considers himself a solipsist. That is he does not believe that other people exist in reality. A refrain of the novel is the thesis – “I am God, and you do not really exist”.

Jacob. Character description. „When I began to write the book “How to become God and not cry”, I thought that the book would be about the highest virtue of human life and chose a worthy character – shaggy, bold, disgusting by his nature composer, somewhat resembling Doctor House. This is a good character to show to the reader the utter evil of human spirit.

It seemed to me that such cynic, disgusting and despicable by his nature person probably most of all deserves to cognize the quality of mystery, something similar to Doctor House”.

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Lyubko DERESH „Having written almost ¾ of this book, I came to understand that nothing was happening… I put the book aside with some certain feeling of misunderstanding. Seemed like I had full vision of what would come. And the book stopped… It happens sometimes that writers have strong, well-developed imagination, and apart from this they like to work up. Being an emotional person, I started to get steamed up and I started to think that people which emerge in my life, and they are in one way or another similar to some characters from the novel”. „How to become God and not cry” was meant to be a structured novel, rather well-thought. I tried to construct it.

There had to be 4 men and 4 women. Four men are chosen according to the types of age-crisis: first crisis happens at the age of 14, when sexual ripening takes place; second – at the age of 28-29, when person becomes sober; third – at the age of 42-45, it is also called midlife crisis; fourth – at the age of 60-65, crisis of a person who understands that life has already happened.

Concerning women, 4 types of neurosis in women were chosen. Why four? Four sides of the world, four seasons, four times of day, four types of women. Woman-north is cold, piercing, she is able to grasp the finest nuances of men. Woman-south is just the contrary. She is dark-complexioned, brunette, big-breasted, and with “encapsulating” aura. Woman from the East – soft, morning, cheerful, natural. May be silly in some things – in such way this could perceive composers who graduated from Cracow Music Academy, snobs. But in fact she is not silly, but possesses cosmic mind. Western woman –is woman with very rational mindset, woman— logician, woman with male mind, who analyzes herself, who sees her gestalts not closed, she knows who is Ken Gilbert, what Jung wrote, she is constantly busy with search and cannot come to the end with her search.

One can even say that this is woman-scorpion. She kills everybody around herself and then kills herself. „Three quarters as my own work, three quarters written on paper, and the fourth quarter turned to be my own life” The novel is like the Mayan Calendar — 4 episodes, 4 big wings of the Mayan Calendar, where each episode should be divided into 5 parts. In the Mayan Calendar a unit of time equals 20 days, 13 time units make 260 days – full cycle of the Mayan Calendar. Each part of the novel is certain expression of the Mayan Calendar. „Having not thought to the end what I do, I decided for some reason that the main hero must die. Since I have done everything in order to synchronize the calendar of the book with the calendar of events of my life, I have realized with horror: If I have found myself in the novel, if my life turned to be the fourth quarter, then the event I planned for the finale – main character finishes his symphony and the last times of this symphony must underline striking signs. And the composer, examining the striking signs, recognizes in them sharp contours of knife, drum tapping can be heard… When he looks at the notes, and it seems like knocking on the door can be heard… The composer opens the door, and there his brother is standing, he pushes sharp staccato of the knife in his heart. Curtain falls.” „I set death of the main character for my own birthday. What am I doing? At the beginning I was afraid that this book can really influence my life. I understood this not earlier than 3 days before my day. After this I had an unbearable desire to finish 4/4.

And I managed to do this in two days, finished the novel, put the last full stop and understood that I was completely exhausted.

Nothing happened on my birthday. But I realized that the work I had in the result – this is not the work I could give someone to read, I could not read it myself. Totally confused, I put the novel to a drawer, not even knowing what would happen next”.

Right Catalog: Fiction

Oksana FOROSTYNA (1978)

Oksana FOROSTYNA

Oksana Forostyna (34) wrote the first draft of her debut novel «Duty Free» back in 2001. At that time, she served as a press secretary for Dzyga Art Association, a unique cultural and intellectual organization, which organized concerts, festivals, and a contemporary art gallery — all in Lviv, her native city. Ms. Forostyna was executive producer of an FM radio station which was one of Dzyga’s media projects.

Only a few lines remain of that first draft in the final version of «Duty Free», however her observations of those times, incredibly talented people she worked with (1998 — 2002), and the profound effect of their audacious cultural (and partly political) rebellion against the vicious and provincial regime in Ukraine — these make up the rich background of the novel. She entered this world for first time at the age of 18, when she was a cultural reporter for the Lviv local newspaper.

Oksana returned to journalism in 2003, covering national politics for the daily Lvivska Gazeta and then as the local reporter for Voice of America. In 2006, as an activist for the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine, she prepared, negotiated, and signed the Editorial Policy Agreement with Lvivska Gazeta management — the first such agreement in the Ukrainian press.

Less than a year after that, she was fired for her union activity and worked as freelance journalist, mostly for international media. Her articles have been published in BusinessWeek, Transitions Online, and the Ukrainian Observer.

Next, she became a communication consultant, joining pro.mova company, where she was the member of the company’s Board of Directors and senior account manager overseeing projects including branding, development of communication strategies.

Currently, Oksana is an associate executive editor for Krytyka journal (Kyiv, Ukraine) and executive editor for Krytyka Online — a new, ambitious, and avant-garde online media project.

She resides in Kyiv.

Reality prose

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Right Catalog: Fiction

DUTY FREE (NEW BOOK) DUTY FREE Early in the spring of 2009 36-year old American business consultant Elijah Melnyk travels to train the Ukrainians. He has his own Ukrainian story, as a young expat in mid 1990s: armed with a university diploma and a command of Ukrainian – the language of his late father, he came then to the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv as a Peace Corps volunteer. Elijah was inspired by the early 1990s generation of young Western expatriates, the recent Fall of the Berlin Wall, and the rocketing changes in Eastern Europe.

Elijah travels through Western Ukraine to Kyiv with his slightly reckless Ukrainian assistent Taras, the road is full of silly adventures, freaks, shady businessmen, and bohemian types, all while flash-backing to his previous Ukrainian experience. In 1996 he accidentally happened to make friends with Lviv art mileu, and soon started an affair with Wanda, local rock star and radio DJ. She was seven years older, married, with a child, and a bunch of problems – a total mess. Fascinated by her music, fame, drive, and charisma, he was eagerly trying to maintain a real relationship, however overwhelmed by her crazy rhythm of life, drugging fans, and family issues. Both she, and his new artistic friends opened up the Lviv underground scene for him, the scene that is in fact a twilight and seductive world, full of Imperial ghosts.

Elijah soon began to feel frustrated and oppressed by the sense that life was somewhere else, and he’s just waisting his time among the freaks and loosers. The new millenium began, and Elijah came back to States. He tried to take a «normal“ path as his peers did in their early 30s after travelling and living overseas. But he never settled down, and never had gotten rid of the feeling he’s missing something important. He was traveling, building his career, dating – and desperately trying to catch the magic moments of world mechanics uncovering itself and history in the making. He knew what that taste.

Meanwhile, his old Lviv friends – Blum, an artist, and «Fairy», a cultural manager, kept him posted on the ongoing events and dramatic changes in Ukraine. Their joyous, carefree, and daring world was threatened, and finally ruined by Kuchma’s regime.

Wanda had been fired from the radio station and became a real estate agent to earn her living. Ironically, Elajah failed to fulfill the dream of his youth: he watched the Orange revolution in Ukraine, the greatest historical event in that part of the world since the Fall of Berlin Wall and velvet revolutions in the Eastern Europe, again on TV, as he did in his teenage years...

Having finally arrived, Kyiv, Elijah sees Wanda’s face on a billboard and seeks her out. She is now a quite successful VJ, and still married the same feeble man. After nine years apart, Elijah and Wanda rekindle their affair. However, now something new stands between them – the insight Elijah learned along the way from Lviv to Kyiv.

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Oksana FOROSTYNA

Right Catalog: Fiction

Tymofiy HAVRYLIV

WONDERFUL WORLD CHARIVNYJ SVIT

Tymofiy HAVRYLIV (1971) She’s a writer a translator from English and French, and a research associate in the Ukrainian Centre for Cultural Studies. Eugeniya takes part in many literary, cultural and scientific gatherings in Ukraine, France, the USA, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Russia etc. She is the winner and laureate of numerous awards in literature and translation.

He is a writer, literary scholar, translator, PhD. He was born in Ivano-Frankivsk, now lives and works in Lviv. He participates actively in cultural life of Ukraine, but also Germany and Austria. He is the author of books of poetry and essays, feuilletons, stories, novels, many literature translations and a theoretical work “Form and fi gure”. Thus, Tymofi y Havryliv translated for Ukrainian reader works of the Austrian poetmodernist Georg Trakl and “the most scandalous Austrian writer”, smashing critic of “Austrian soul” Thomas Bernhard and founded authors translation series “Austrian play XIX — XX centuries».

His articles and essays are published in Ukrainian and European publications, particularly in Frankfurter Rundschau.

In 2009 the German translation of his novel “Where is your home, Odysseus?” became the first book of the Ukrainian author, who appeared in the renowned Swiss publishing house Ammann Verlag and caused exceptional resonance in the press and in German and Austrian bookstores.

He is a laureate of a literary prize “Blahovist”.

“Wonderful world” conceptually continues the novel “Where is your home, Odysseus?”, the German translation of which became the fi rst book of the Ukrainian author that appeared in the Swiss publishing house Ammann Verlag and caused exceptional resonance.

This adventurous-philosophical story consists of the three independent parts, which like a puzzle, create wholeness. Three time plans — now, then, between then and now.

“Now” — is the story of a tramp who could have become a nihilist if he did not have his love and ability to feel sorry for that trivial things which we normally do not notice, because we are merely consumers of such things. «Now» begins with a theft, made by the hero who was forced to do it by certain circumstances. After a number of adventures, death of his friends and horror from the seen solemn rite of partition of the dead, he, saving himself from snow and cold, finds himself spending a night in an unknown building. To keep himself warm he burns stools and papers, out of sheer idleness reading the latter. While doing this the hero finds a fatal file…

“Then” is written in a form of a diary, which is auctioned off in the end and the money is spent on a journey (which finishes before the beginning of “Now”) — illegal emigration. In this part the story narrates of several homeless people, touchy friendship of men who are unlucky with women and have because of some reasons found themselves at the bottom. At the end all of them find unexpected happiness which all of them meet with similar precaution, at the same time each of them is blazing his own way.

“Between then and now” depicts the childhood of the hero, upbringing in the family circle where there are many fathers and mothers. The story of downfall of the hero (in the Biblical sense fall from grace), birth, childhood, school years, unusual family in which he grows up, lavished with love. The last scene fi nally opens he mystery of his birth an the story of the known to us fatal file.

Novel

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Right Catalog: Fiction

COME OUT AND TAKE (NEW BOOK) VYJDY I VIZ’MY Novel «Come out and take» is about human and interhuman relations in closed, full of fears and traumas society.

From routine scenes, from inside of relations and characters becomes picture of drama of a person’s life in late-totalitarian and post-totalitarian society.

The novel is composed of five parts.

First part – «September, night» which snatches out a piece of night road, illuminates some hours from life of the family: Jacques, Mathilda and their son Sergiy.

Second part «Together» shows life of the family from the moment of getting a vegetable garden to macabre dream, in which before Jacques appears his grandfather, whom he did not know in real life, and his father.

Third part «A man goes his way» s in the forefront Jacques’ destiny in his old age with excursuses in his past, as well as the fourth part “Woman” is devoted to Mathilda and her unrealized dreams.

Fifth part begins with Sergiy’s comeback to his home town.

Sergiy hires himself out as a scientific worker, but in reality he works as watchman in museum of local lore. Once he goes fishing on a pond situated on illegally confiscated peoples’ vegetable gardens (there is also his parents’ plot). Beaten and imprisoned, Sergiy becomes victim of distorted justice, from which he is saved by his classmate – lawyer and human rights advocate Anatoliy, with whom Sergiy kept company at school.

Anatoliy introduces Sergiy to his elderly colleague, a dissident, who turns out to be his father’s sworn brother, with whom he (Jacques) returned from army. The man gives Sergiy his father’s letters, looking through which Sergiy starts to understand that what was all this time heavily weighing, hanging in the air, that what his parents were hiding from him, and he could grasp by his intuition but falsely interpreted.

Dramatic tension of the novel grows, but, in spite of all, the novel has a happy ending: Ukrainian «ability to hope» wins.

Nastya, Sergiy’s wife and classmate, who at the end of the novel moves together with her children from a first marriage to Sergiy’s place, gets pregnant.

Victory of human: family – gets a chance for purification and revival.

This novel logically continues the theme of the previous works “Where is your home, Odisseus?” and “Magical world”.

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Tymofiy HAVRYLIV

Right Catalog: Fiction

Yurko IZDRYK

АМТМ This book unlike other books of the author is not marked by the traditional self-absorbing and is full of humor, different mysteries and puzzles. The structure of the book resembles Rubik’s cube with its dispersed over the different edges monochromatic sides that have to be assembled into the whole.

“AMтм” consists of separate short stories (6 of them in each chapter) that assemble as an integral transparent plot if to stick to certain rules and reading order. It is interesting that these rules can be determined by the reader himself. In such a way the content of the book is defined. “AMтм” has more that one version of reading so it has a number of the story lines.

The book is meant to literature epicures and to those readers who like to feel themselves the co-authors. It is recommended for those who love Shakespeare and Tom Stoppard.

Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Extracts publication in other languages: 2005, 2008, Polish

Yurko IZDRYK (1962) Yurko Izdryk is a literary man, an artist and a musician. He was born in Kalush and graduated from the Lviv Polytechnic University. He worked as an engineer-chemist. His active participation in the cultural life started at the end of the 1980-s. He took part in many exhibitions and performances, designed books and magazines, recorded music. Izdryk is one of the creators of the Stanislav phenomenon. In 1989 he had founded “the magazine for texts and vision” under the title “Chetver” (Thursday) with the help of which a lot of names of well-know already Ukrainian writers were discovered then. At that time the first publications of Izdryk appeared. These were a series of short stories “Last War” and a series of poetry “Ten Verses on the Motherland”. Later these works were published in the Warsaw underground magazine “Belch”. The issue of his novel “KRK Island” in 1994 had the good press and later it was translated into Polish and published in the magazine “Literatura na swiecie”. He is the author of novels “Wozzeck”, “Double Leon”, “AMтм”, “KRK Island”, book of essays “Flash-card”, short stories, poems, collected poetry works “Stanislav and 11 of its Liberators”, articles on art and literature and … three piano concertos.

Beginning from 2008 Izdryk started playing in the popular Ukrainian music group “Perkalaba”.

Dystopia

KRK ISLAND OSTRIV KRK This is a romantic love story revealed in gripping funk-rhythm.

Musical allusions have been supplemented by the distinguished nearly poetic sounding of the language, vivid images as well as the general climate of the breath-taking cloudless summer when the most undercover things come true and the inmost is realized.

This is a book for those who like love lyrics and romantic stories as well as for lovers of the “high” prose.

Publications in other languages: 1995, Polish (full text)

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Yurko IZDRYK

WOZZECK “Wozzeck” is one of the most popular novels of Ukrainian post-modern prose. The main character of the novel is the spiritual successor of dramatic “Woyzeck” by George Buechner and Wozzeck from the opera by Alban Berg. This talented but disappointed with his life outsider embodies two parallel projects. He makes an effort to save his wife and son from “lewd and corrupt world” locking and isolating them in the basement of his own house and also to write a book (some peculiar “Wozzeck’s Phenomenon”) with the help of which he strives to settle accounts with the language proving its complete uselessness as a people’s means of communication.

Everything mentioned above takes place against a background of the romantic love drama that destroys all the plans of the character and finally drives him mad.

The absence of the linear story does not allow to state with certainty what the initial reason of his illness was — an unhappy love or some “innate” antipathy towards the outer world. The destiny of the character’s book also stays unknown: the creator of Wozzeck-character hints at the fact that it is his novel that is a summary of the ideal book that the main character has not managed to create. The novel is directed to a thoughtful and sensitive reader who is able to enjoy not only the story line development but also a number of artistic-philosophical allusions and the high quality literature language pulsations.

Publications in other languages: 2006, English (book edition) 1998, Polish (book edition) Publication of extracts in other languages: 2008, German 1997, Polish (extracts)

DOUBLE LEON. CASE HISTORY “Double Leon” is an impulsive “case history”, real story about a real alcohol-addicted man against the background of his life dramas and spiritual search. The outline of the novel abounds in extracts (sometimes the whole story lines) of the world literature classics’ works — from Zhuangzi and Shakespeare to Slavomir Mrozek and Maurice Blanchot. This is an equally exciting reading for “professional” readers as well as for neophytes.

The story can be not only interesting but also useful for psychotherapists and for people suffering from some addictions.

Publications in other languages: 1998, Polish (full text)

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Eugeniya KONONENKO

IMITATION IMITACIJA This was the first time that I have been really excited by the Ukrainian detective story that owing to its ironical and tragic intonations not only captures the reader’s attention up to the last line but reflects our present-day life better than any other “highstyle” novel. I take the liberty to forecast the success of this book not only among Ukrainian readers.

Andrej Kurkov

Eugeniya KONONENKO (1959) She’s a writer a translator from English and French, and a research associate in the Ukrainian Centre for Cultural Studies. Eugeniya takes part in many literary, cultural and scientific gatherings in Ukraine, France, the USA, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Russia etc. She is the winner and laureate of numerous awards in literature and translation.

Eugeniya Kononenko was born and lives in Kyiv; the first higher education she received was in mathematics. She has written poems, short stories and essays, novellas and novels, several books for children, a number of studies on issues of pop-culture and gender, and articles for the press. Eugeniya has 10 books published; besides, she translates poetry, prose and popular science literature from French and English. In particular, her translations of French poets (Lesser Anthology of French Sonnets), Claude Roy, Emille Nelligan, Elie Wiesel, Gerard de Villiers, Annie Ernaux, Vénus Khoury-Ghata, Louis Dumont, several works by Danielle Steel and Anne Gavalda etc. have been published.

Nevertheless, Eugeniya is famous mainly for her short stories and essays that are constantly reprinted in Ukraine and translated into foreign languages. Several literary studies dedicated to Eugeniya Kononenko’s short stories and essays have been written. Her prose has been translated and published in English, German, French, Croatian, Finnish, Czech, Russian, Polish, and Japanese.

This is the most popular novel by the writer. It resembles novels of Umberto Eco by its genre in which a popular in the world literature device “as if it is a detective story” is used. In a small town in the Eastern part of Ukraine the coordinator of the International Foundation for Talented Children Support, a 37-year-old beauty Marjana Khrypovych perishes under the wheels of a train. Her friends, lovers, colleagues in Kyiv startled by this sudden death launch their own investigation though the results of their investigation have nothing in common with any of the classical patterns.

The main goal of Marjana Khrypovych is finding new young talents. The style of a child is free of affectation and is not a mercantile one. Only the feelings fixed on the paper in a pure form are the result. An adult can create something like this only under some tough circumstances. A good example of this is Anatolij who plays the violin in the metropolitan asking nothing for that. So he becomes the only though not a long-time love of the persistent careerist Khripovich. Very soon both of them die. What was the reason of beautiful and successful Marjana’s murder? The answer is that the reason was her condemning attitude towards imitation and her hate towards imitation.

The vulgar plagiarism was naïve in its striving for an excited connoisseur. It could not be possible because of Khrypovych and she paid for that with her life. Friends and colleagues do not believe that it was an accident. Their investigation is gripping and mysterious. Trampled down funeral wreath, horrible noises, burned holes in pictures, the murdered musician and more, and more, and more…

The manner of writing “life as it is” is a characteristic for the beginning of the novel. Later it is changing as if some other person is writing: mystery, horror, nervousness create the atmosphere of mystical detective story.

Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Awards: winner of Suchasnist’ magazine contest prize-winner of national Ukrainian rating “Book of the Year — 2001”

Novel Short Stories

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Right Catalog: Fiction

BETRAYAL. ZRADA MADE IN UKRAINE ZRADA. ZRADA MADE IN UKRAINE It is a psychological detective story. After the book had been published literary critics began comparing the author with Francoise Sagan, Iris Murdock and … Umberto Eco. As well as the previous “Imitation” novel this is a gripping story about the death of a young women and a private investigation of the case by her friend. The tricky intrigue with false versions is bound with an all-round comprehension of the treason as the conjugal infidelity, national betrayal and filial betrayal. So who and for what reason has murdered Veronika Rajevska-Stebel’ko the reader will find out from the last pages of the book.

Awards: prize-winner of the All-Ukrainian literary contest “Crowning the Word — 2001”

SHORT STORIES COLLECTIONS: WITHOUT A MAN WHORES ALSO MARRY STORIES FOR UNKISSED GIRLS BOOKSTORE SHOCK Eugeniya Kononenko is the author of more than 50 short stories.

They had been edited as collected stories, were included into numerous anthologies of the contemporary Ukrainian prose published in Ukraine and abroad, were published in magazines and newspapers.

These are very frank stories about the joy of the first kiss, about tears, abortions, hatred aimed at all men, love towards the only man in the world and finally about woman’s loneliness.

The author combines the dynamic and light story in pictures that is characteristic for popular films and the psychology of the social living of a person. Each story is interesting in its own way and is unlike the other stories, though their beginnings are very often quite usual.

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Eugeniya KONONENKO Ruslana meets Lars while participating in the seminar “EastWest: Dialogues and Misunderstandings”. Nelja Tymchenko gets familiar with the Dutchman Yuren with the help of marriage advertisement and when she is going to visit him she invents some legend for her family about going to the conference organized by the Humanitarian Problems Institute. Music teacher Olesja meets Jean-Mark in Kyiv but at the end of the story “The Thirty Third Sonata” she is bringing money gained from selling her apartment abroad in order to help her friend who suddenly has become bankrupt.

The author each time masterly transforms and her thinking is retuned depending upon the main character of the story.

“Godmother of My Child as a Martyr” and “Getting out of the Bed from the Wrong Side” tells about deceived women. “Pink Light on the Bus Stop” is on the opposite a story about a man’s dreams that haven’t come true. “Colossal Story” tells about the difficulties of intolerable geniuses who haven’t created anything yet but infringe upon the right to break human lives. “Kiss into Buttocks” on the contrary feels about careless and brainless mothers who leave their children to be taken care by grandmothers. Women have to live according to the inhuman laws that have been imposed on them by men — these are the feminist-ironical motifs of the short stories. The author has her own opinion on feminism and understands it as the creative realization and absence of limits for self-knowledge. In her opinion a feminist has to be happily married, beautiful and effective woman. Otherwise nobody would accept her philosophy seriously and would take her feminism as an excuse for her failures.

The latest book by Eugeniya Kononenko, “Bookstore Shock”, is an event in and of itself. It is a collection of the author’s brand new and some earlier short stories and essays, some of which gained her literary prizes even before the book was published.

In this book, Eugeniya Kononenko’s prose is utterly candid, very fresh and quite unexpected, but at the same time her refined style and subtle irony are perfectly recognizable.

Part One: “Bookstore Shock” consists of new thrilling and trueto-life short stories, dealing, in particular, with matters of high technologies in romantic relationships and offering a new and surprising look at issues of day-to-day human existence.

Part Two: “Wrong Chemistry” is a real drama of our life, full of pain and regret over the fleeting moment when everything could have changed — but the chemistry between people went wrong somehow…

And, the last but not the least, P.S. consists of three honest essays about the life of a modern woman author dealing with matters of envy and professionalism and telling how essays are made.

Granted licenses: Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Russia (Fluid) Extracts publication in other languages: 1996, 1998, English 1999, French 2000, German 2000 Croatian 2007 Finnish 2008, Russian 2008, Japanese 2009, Czech 2009, Polish Awards: prize-winner of the all-Ukrainian radio play contest, 2008 prize-winner of the all-Ukrainian contest of short stories “From Kyiv with love”, 2009 prize-winner of Prosto tak International Literary Festival, 2009

Right Catalog: Fiction

Eugeniya KONONENKO

RUSSIAN STORY (NEW BOOK) ROSIJS’KIJ SJUZHET Four “parents” of the fifteen-year old Myroslav gathered under one roof. His mother and stepfather live in France, his father with his stepmother – in a university town in the United States.

The boy lives meanwhile in Kyiv, visiting in turn his parentsemigrants.

Myroslav’s father Eugene has for the first time in many years seen his son’s mother Lada. And this meeting unintentionally forced the mature man to call to memory his youth which was during the years of national uprising of Ukraine. Eugene’s mother was a teacher of Russian literature in one of Kyiv schools, and she named her son in honour of Eugene Onegin - character of the key novel of Russian classics. Although Eugene distinctly identified himself as Ukrainian, he felt comfortable in narrow circles of Ukrainian-speaking town intellectuals.

But Russian story does not let go… In a village dies Eugene’s uncle, and nephew inherits uncle’s house. Thus, town dweller Eugene Samarskyi, similar to Eugene Onegin, leaves for the unknown for him world of Ukrainian village, where further on everything happens “according to Pushkin”. In the village he gets acquainted with two adolescent village girls, Tanya and Olya who were named so also “in honour of Pushkin”, with young doctor Volodya, who is in love with Olya. Tanya falls in love with Eugene, makes a declaration of her love, but the intellectual, who reads Nietzsche and Kundera, does not take simple Tanya seriously. Eugene feels sorry for naïve and hopelessly silly in his understanding Tanya.

And then again everything happens according to Pushkin!

Eugene is taken by force to Tanya’s and Olya’s birthday party.

Olya tries to seduce Eugene. Between Eugene and Volodya there begins a fight, and as a result Volodya faints and falls down. It seems like Eugene has accidentally killed the boy. Tanya helps Eugene to escape from the village. He returns to Kyiv and comes to know that he is granted a scholarship of an American University. In America he marries russiste Dynya because this is a chance for him not to come back to Ukraine, where he could be responsible for unintentional murder.

Living in America, Eugene becomes an interpreter. One day he takes his son to a conference that takes place in the Azores.

And there everything happens as in Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin”.

Once silly Tanya has not only graduated from university and now makes reports on important conferences, she, as it turned out, has also read the books which Eugene had left in his uncle’s house when he was running away from the village. It also becomes known that Eugene did not kill Volodya. The doctor recovered and married Olya…

Exactly like Pushkin’s Tetyana, Tanya from «Russian story» did her best to become equal with Eugene, and became even superior. She lives in Ukraine, she belongs to Ukrainian elite.

And who will Yaroslav become?

NOSTALGIA NOSTALGIA “Nostalgia” is a “three in one” detective story with an unexpected denouement, the novel-topography of an old city and the love story with a nostalgic touch. The plot is based on the solution of two mysterious murders taking place more than 20 years ago.

Art critic and the detective in her spare time Larysa Lavrynenko helps Alex Gair to find out the reason which caused his parents death many years ago. Alex left Kyiv in the “cold war” times. Now both of them being not young roam about the secluded corners of Kyiv looking for the solution: Shchekavytsja Mountain, Lyssa Mountain and old district of Podil. During those walks a new feeling emerges between them. However the woman is not going to change her present day life and go to the cottage on the see shore in Germany and Alex will not come back to the place from which he escaped ingloriously yielding the career of a musician for a profitable job in a windows producing company.

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Leonid KONONOVYCH

THEME FOR MEDITATION TEMA DLYA MEDYTATSII

Leonid KONONOVYCH (1958) He is a writer and translator from French and Dutch. Leonid Kononovych was born and lives in Kyiv. In the USSR era he was excluded from the University of Kyiv as “refusing to study the history of the Communist party” and later from the Kyiv Pedagogical University for his human rights protection activities. Kononovych has translated a number of works by Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Emile Durkheim, Maurice Blanchot, Jean Baudrillard, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and others into Ukrainian.

His works include the novel “Tema dlya medytatsii” (Theme for Meditation); several existential fiction works written in the 1980s and remaining unpublished until in 2004 Povernennya (Return) was printed; a series of historical fantasy novels for younger readers; and 10 ironic crime novels. Because of the latter he has been proclaimed “the father of Ukrainian crime fiction” by critics. One of the principal characters of Kononovych’s detective stories is his dog Bilbonskiy, who would often have a glass of brandy with the writer. When Kononovych’s ”Theme for Meditation” appeared, the novel became the greatest psychological fiction sensation, a rare case when literary critics and readers shared the same opinion. Kononovych’s has been instrumental for the notion of “post-catastrophe fiction” to appear in Ukrainian literary circles, as the term was coined to define the genre of “Theme for Meditation”. Nothing like this has ever appeared in Ukrainian literature before, the novel being named “one of the first Ukrainian epics”.

Kononovych won the Ukrainian Book of the Year Award (2005).

Novel, Short Stories, Adventure & Historical, Juvenile Fiction (Age 8–13)

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This is a novel-Odyssey. Leonid Kononovych created the literary version of the most tragic events of the Ukrainian history of the 20-th century. This a novel about famine, communist regime crimes, about the search of one’s self, truth and lost love full of mystery and filigree hazy pictures of the rotting autumn nature.

The novel tells about the present-day events that take place after the Ukrainian independence has been gained. The events of the Famine of 1933, rumblings of the 1960-s and a poisonous mire of the 1970-s-1980-s are revealed as a retrospective in the form of memories of the main character Yuro or old peoples narrations. The pre-Christian charms that bind the whole canvas of the novel add some special dainty and profound sounding.

Yuro’s conscience contains and hears them. His Grandmother Chakunka was a witch. Narration on Iriy, Low and Upper Worlds, on three women-warriors seem to be so real like Yuro’s meeting the woman who has eaten her children during the Holodomor, just as real as the fact that the great-grandmother of Chakunka who had been burned as a witch came those day to her and told to save the last family treasure — magic lace. Besides, she brought a loaf of bread in order to save Chakunka’s children from the Famine. Chakunka by miracle saved her last son who was still alive and years later begged one more drop of life for her grand-son Yuro after he had been wounded in Bosnia where he served as a mercenary during the war.

Her predictions for school teachers who wanted to expel her grandson from school were just the same real though unbelievable. She told each of them what kind of death is waiting for them and everything turned out to be true. One of them died in an accident, another one had been murdered by her drunk husband, and a leader who headed taking away food from people lived for long years but was rotten alive…

Yuro who experienced poisonous mire of the 1970-s-1980-s had to leave Ukraine. In many years he returns back. He searches for the truth. He is possessed by the image of the village where dead people bury their dead people. So the revenge becomes the only and the most understandable goal for him. This is why the gaining of the Ukrainian independence as well as the rehabilitation of dissidents and his returning home look like something minor for him until those who in 1933 buried a humane being in themselves are alive and occupy the place that does not belong to them on the earth.

Leonid Kononovych got into the very hearts of the serious literature connoisseurs and the wide circle of readers. The book got a very good press and became a subject for debates on the Internet forums.

To my mind this is the very first Ukrainian epic novel in the whole Ukrainian literature.

Vasyl Herasymjuk, poet, editor This is an unreal novel about real events written by a real man.

Bogdan Lohvynenko, editor-in-chief of the Internet-magazine Awards: prize-winner of the national Ukrainian rating “Book of the Year — 2005”

Right Catalog: Fiction

RETURN POVERNRENYA The book includes a short story “Return”, a micro-novel “Winter Fairytale” and an essay “Tree”. This is the psychedelic prose on the personality self-identification problems, generation ties and search for the sense in the everyday routine. Three stories are different versions of the course of life.

The main character of “Return” long ago escaped from his village looking for some better destiny and lost connection with his people. They considered him to be dead. Now he comes back to Ukraine looking for a lost sense but he is not able even to find the place where he was born and brought up by his family. Heading to the place he recalls his life full of dangerous events and adventures. In order to make his search easier he tries to recollect his childhood but is not able to catch any of the memories. He desperately goes by car through the countryside with poor road hoping to find something that was lost long ago but he is a failure. Now he goes back to Paris which is his home place already.

The story of “Winter Fairytale” begins with the description of teenagers’ village company. They grew up together, took care of the caught hare, and enjoyed spending together evenings by the family of Galka and the first feelings aroused between them.

They live quite different lives. But all of a sudden they meet each other in many years.

“Tree” is a speculation on the beginning and the end, on time and space, on universal intercommunications and some detached individuals’ destinies from the point of view of a tree.

It looks as if “Tree” sums up and generalizes all the previous stories told in “Return” and “Winter Fairytale”.

Book has been several times reedited and the radio play created on the basis of it was very popular among the radio listeners of Ukraine.

TROYAN’S KEY HISTORICAL FANTASY SERIES Trojan’s Key is a historical fantasy series with one principal hero.

It features thrilling adventures set against a background of real historical events intertwined with Ukrainian myths and legends.

In terms of theme, mood and originality Trojan’s Key is said to be comparable to Tolkien’s famous works. However, in Kononovych’s books heroes from Ukrainian, Hindu and Norse myths can be found side by side with real historical evens of the era of the Zaporizhian Sich and hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskiy.

BOOK 1. THE SHADOW OF TRYHLAV After the defeat suffered by rebellious Ukrainians in the Battle of Kumejki (1637), Zaporizhian Cossacks bring a boy named Mykhas to his grandfather Chyhyr’s farmstead. The boy was born in the legendary Great Grassland of Ukraine, and his mother was the last of the polyanytsi, a warrior woman of enormous strength. Nine years after, in the sacred night of Ivan Kupala’s Eve, Myhkas meets a stranger in the Priest’s Wood, and the man gives him a stone figurine — the Trojan’s Charm, dedicated to an ancient Slavic god. In a few days a magician named Cornelius, a servant of infamous Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, slays Mykhas’ grandfather and his valetry. The boy manages to escape on the horseback and finds himself in the Otherworld, where he meets a blacksmith volkhv (a Slavic pagan priest and

Leonid KONONOVYCH sorcerer) and two warrior maidens. The volkhv sends Mykhas to the Zaporizhian Sich, and here the boy becomes a squire to kharakternyk (a Cossack shaman) Obukh. Here begins Mykhas’ mission — to close the circle and bring to the Sich the one who will raise Ukrainian people against the szlachta (Polish nobility).

The plot thus evolves around the road which the hero follows to find all former keepers of the Charm. Antagonists are Cornelius with his three hellish litavytsi (ghost women who are said to seduce young men) and his servant, as well as Wiśniowiecki and the szlachta. Ukrainian, Hindu and Norse myths are integrated into the story as tales and lessons of Obukh the kharakternyk. In the ending of Book 1 Mykhas leaves the Sich and goes to Ukraine.

BOOK 2. BISURKANYA Mykhas and Obukh head to Ukraine. When heroes pass famous Dniepro’s rapids (described in great detail), many myths and legends connected to these places are told. Near the most perilous rapid, the great Nenasytets, they are attacked by a swarm of warlike bisurkanyas (these witches, who ride on the backs of wild boars, are loosely based on respective characters from Norse myths), but a champion of god Dazhdbog comes to rescue. The heroes pass Nenasytets only to be taken captive in the Kodak Fortress, but manage to escape and come to the banks of the Samara river, where Zaporizhian Cossacks with wives and children dwell. Here they have to fight the warriors of the neighboring Budzhak Horde. Injured Mykhas comes to the Trojan’s valley, where two witches heal him, then leaves for Kyiv and finds Obukh in an inn. At night a rite takes place on the Starokyivska Mountain, and in Kiev Pechersk Lavra Mykhas meets one of the former keepers of the Charm, a warrior of Prince Volodymyr of Kyiv Rus. The boy and his master head to the eastern lands of Ukraine, but witch Karunka — a servant of goddess Neya — turns the kharakternyk into a tree. Karunka and another witch, Chykyldykha, are caught, put upon trial with water and finally burnt. In the ancient town of Baruch Mykhas crosses ways with Ivan Bohun, a legendary leader of rebellious Cossacks, then proceeds to Trakhtemyrov, where a monastery and a Cossack hospital were situated, and meets a volkhv of Trojan on the Zarub mountain.

BOOK 3. THAT WHAT FIRE HEALS NOT In this novel the circle is closed, and the plot is build as a retrospective journey into the history of Ukraine and peoples that dwelled here in different eras. The hero comes to Bilske settlement, where the legendary ancient Holun or Helon, the capital of Scythia, was situated, and meets yet another keeper of the Charm. His further way is to Tyasmyn, where in the days of yore Trypillians dwelt. At the ford Mykhas is taken captive by Cossacks who are in Wiśniowiecki’s service and brought to the Wiśniowieckiy family estate in Lubny, but manages to escape. In the Black forest he faces a cynocephalus (dog-headed man) and defeats him (this episode is based on the plot of one obscure folk-tale). On the bank of the Tyasmyn river the hero finally meets the last keeper of the Charm. After that, in Chyhyryn he helps Bohdan Khmelnytskiy to break out of the prison, and follows him in his voyage to the Sich, where Khmelnytskiy delivers his famous speech — the one that in 1648 raised the Ukrainian Cossacks against Poland.

Six more books are to follow, their plot evolving around the milestones of great historical battles. All the following books are as well saturated with myths and legends, the overall mood being mystical and magical.

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Vasyl KOZHELYANKO

SILVER SPIDER SRIBNYJ PAVUK This is a novel that contains ironical combination of the life details of prewar Chernivtsi of 1939 and fictitious stories.

This combination serves as the side scenes for the adventure intrigue. Those who love Boris Akunin and Paulo Coelho will appreciate it highly. Mystification, irony, conditions of life in details, romantic and funny dialogues are revealed against the historical background that does not direct characters’ actions but hampers their wishes fulfilling.

Most of the time two detectives from Chernivtsi Karol and Helmut sit in restaurants or … suffer from unrequited love.

However, it is their despairs being in love with the beauty Maria Vidgata that drags them into different stories. In their adventures characters come across the pursued religious sect of Catars dualists, the mysterious relic and thirty coins mentioned in the Bible. World War II parts the friends but owing to the mysterious relic and Maria Vidgata they meet again. This time it happens in Brazil.

Vasyl KOZHELYANKO (1957–2008) He was a writer, a poet and a political analyst. Graduated from the Chernivtsi University.

He wrote five plays, five collected poems books, and seven alternative history novels-anecdotes. The most popular of them are “Military Defiling in Moscow”, “Konotop” and “Terrorium”. Besides, he wrote three novels which are retro-history or historical reconstructions by genre. The most known of them is the novel “Silver Spider”. He is the author of strict realistic short stories about the survival under the conditions of the contemporary “material things totalitarianism” and ironical alternative history stories. Vasyl Kozhelyanko is the winner of the All-Ukrainian literature contest “Crowning the Word”.

Novel, Short Stories, Reality prose, Detective & Crime, Adventure & Historical, Alternative History

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Granted licenses: Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Russia (Vostok-Zapad). The term of the license is over.

Finland (Basam Books) Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine)

LOGIC OF THINGS LOHIKA RECHEJ These are collected short novels that are strict and realistic and tell about a survival under the conditions of the contemporary “material things totalitarianism”. The peculiar feature of the book is an intent attitude of the author towards the material world of things surrounding us, special attention to their color, form, taste and smell. This is a cocktail of alcoholism, onanism, patriotism and many other “isms” combined with the speculations on the eternal life and true love. This is about the world through the prism of masculine logic and about a woman as she is seen by a man.

The characters of the stories in some cases are made-up, sometimes have prototypes in the real life, sometimes they resemble the author himself. The leader of the nationalist detachment Ruboros (the name is combined of several words constituting a phrase “the one who hacks Russians”) is going to be a subject of exchange between the KGB and the USA government. The former insurance agent Viktor Kolobko whose love towards Ukraine is of the same type as the need for such important things as the hair color, a blue spotted tie, crimplen trousers and elegant high-heeled low shoes.

There are here more materially-minded and painful issues.

For instance it is alcoholism. This is a story of a man left by his girl-friend. He suffers so much that starts drinking everything he can get, even the eau-de-Cologne for men. All means are useful for deadening the sharp sadness. Masturbation is not exclusion.

You can find from the book that when the make-up of your girl is spoilt by the rain she looks like a Paris whore. Or the fact that you never should give your bees any sugar because this is very much like a woman using vibrator instead of having sex with a man.

Right Catalog: Fiction

MILITARY DEFILING IN MOSCOW DEFILIADA V MOSKVI The novel is an ingenious alternative history political pamphlet by genre. This work appeals to the literary tradition of modern anti-utopias by G.Orwell, O.Huxley, N.Zamjatin.

The story is based on the alternative history concerning the victory of the Axis states in the World War II with the substantial assistance of Ukrainians. United Ukrainian-German troops occupied Moscow, forced Bolsheviks out beyond Ural and then started to prepare their parade in Moscow.

The main character of the novel the Ukrainian Army lieutenant Dmytro Levytskyj goes to the military defiling in Moscow. He drops in Chernivtsi to visit his father and his girl Gentsya and then takes a train to Moscow. The scene in the train mockingly (not in the last turn the irony is aimed at such a topical political correctness of the present day) shows the hatred of the representatives of Germany allies (Ukraine, Romania and Hungary) towards each other. Having come to Moscow instead of the triumphal march Dmytro observes some miserable show details of which reveal the fact of the coming war between Ukraine and Germany.

The outline of the novel is interrupted by letters by Gentsya and Dmytro written to each other, excerpts from the WesternUkrainian newspapers of World War II period, extracts from the fictitious textbook of Ukrainian history of 1970-s, the dream of the character seen in the real 1990-s and futuristic sketches about the life of Dmytro’s descendant in a century after the war. Realities, myths and models of political technology are revealed that at the same time are real and profaned patterns.

For the reader who is to get familiar with them the book will look like a grotesque metaphor of an abstract and much too political society described imaginatively, sarcastically and in a generalized manner resembling the literary manner of Jonathan Swift.

Vasyl KOZHELYANKO

KONOTOP The novel “Konotop” is an example of the skillful fiction in a genre of the alternative history. The author takes the real historical event and describes it from different points of view, reveals in different contexts each time with some other intonation as if he aims at the tastes satisfaction and needs meeting of different audiences. At the same time he imitates different mass media styles including official news as well as scandalous publications of the yellow press and common rumors.

Kozhelyanko mixes in-group Ukrainian national myths and out-group (European, American) stereotypes on Ukraine in a provocative manner, mocks political and journalistic rhetoric and sneers at literary claims of the story-teller who in fact is the alter ego of the author.

The independent journalist Avtovisij from Chernivtsi is visited by the editor-in-chief and an owner of Nich (Night) newspaper and is offered to write a series of special reports. With the help of practical magic he is going to be cast to Konotop town of 1659 where at that time the battle between Ukrainian and Russian army is taking place. Avtovisij has to write a series of documentary war reports in order to stop speculations of historians on this battle after he returns back to the present.

Avtovisij accepts the offer.

The next story is written in the form of the newspaper articles

by Avtovisij. Instead of working only on the reports for Nich he writes for all the editions that are ready to pay for the job: patriotic, pro-Ukrainian, pro-Moscow, Zionistic, terrorist, proAmerican, pro-Moslem, etc. following certain style in each case and adopting format rules of each newspaper. So, the next effort to write the Objective History turns out to be a failure.

Avtovisij who has got a unique chance to reveal historical truth according to the inertia of the “pocket press” representative is aimed at customers and consumers tastes.

Awards: prize-winner of the national Ukrainian rating “Book of the Year — 2000” winner of Suchasnist’ magazine contest Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine: Radio play (The Ukrainian National radio company)

HUMAN ZOO OF MISTER GOD LYDYNETS PANA BOHA The subject and the style of this novel have a lot in common with two other novels by Vasyl Kozhelyanko — “Military Defiling in Moscow” and “Konotop”. The single story line is absent, there are several characters, whose stories intersect and interact. At the same time the author carries to a conclusion the story line of each character of his previous book creating this way a peculiar “trilogy”. The action takes place in some imaginary (fantasy) future that is going to come after the imaginary (fantasy) “military defiling” “Human Zoo” is an intellectual pamphlet. Mocking and revealing the absurd of the modern reality many aspects he illustrates this with the help of historical examples, especially those of them that still are unlearned. Avoiding moralizing and ideological details the author does not offer any positive vision.

Instead of it he lightly, nearly playfully marks those problem that each reader can solve himself.

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Vasyl KOZHELYANKO

TERRORIUM TERORIUM This is a novel-anecdote in the alternative history genre which will be highly appreciated by those who love “A Connecticut Yankee in King Author’s Court” by Mark Twain and modern antiutopias by G.Orwell, O.Huxley, N.Zamjatin.

The action takes place in the nearest future in Ukraine. The wag-wizard predicted to the countries’ president A.D.Kromeshny that he was going to die from gold. So Kromeshny launches the national campaign aimed at the struggle with gold: special police squads (“goldmen”) confiscate the gold all over the country and melt it. The extremist organization “Youth Great Ukraine” lead by Roxolana opposes the president. These terrorists are known by people as “jewelers” because they wear different golden jewelry in a pointed manner and somewhere in Carpathian mountains keep a golden Scythian pectoral as a relic which they have seized from the regime as trophy and have saved from melting.

The real master of Ukraine is the Director of the Company “Not Only Bread, Inc.” Ukrainian-speaking Chinese Ko She Lin. It is this most mighty in Eastern Europe and Euro-Asia industrial empire that produces “the main food for the majority of people”, the synthetic meat, the universal thing reminding bread, genetically modified products such as dried vodka, ersatz-beer and beer powder.

While negotiating with Roxolana the tycoon Ko She Lin offers the Youth Great Ukraine organization to resort to a military coup d’etat. As a result in Ukraine will emerge a new government fulfilling the political program of the organization though only partially… Members of the organization have not accepted the condition of the tycoon and think what they have to do next. Out of two ways — separate terrorist actions against the regime of Kromeshny or the mass terrorism aimed at the whole nation — they choose the second one.

It is interesting that the author three and a half years before the Ukrainian events of 2004 forecasted big half a million strong meetings, the Orange revolution, the banishment of the previous authorities and some of the post-revolution processes in the Ukrainian leadership.

Characters and speeches of the novel show features of the real figures of Ukrainian political elite: Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko (Kromeshny), Yulia Tymoshenko (Roxolana), Yevhen Marchuk (Kirill Kirillych), etc.

Granted licenses: Russia (Vostok-Zapad). The term of the license is over.

Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine)

STRANGER CHUZHYJ This is an alternative history collected short stories book, mixture of irony, the author’s fertile imagination, bitter truth and at the same time optimism. This is a book about Ukrainian Warriors and Cains, presidents and time machine inventors. It is short, scary and funny.

Awards: prize-winner of the national Ukrainian rating “Book of the Year — 2008”

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Taras PROKHAS’KO

Taras PROKHAS’KO (1968) He is a popular writer and a publicist, was born in IvanoFrankivsk, lives there and works beginning from 1992. Prokhas’ko graduated from the Lviv University, Biology Department. He actively participated in the students’ movements in Ukraine of 1989-1991. He worked in the Institute for Forestry, in the art gallery, was a teacher, a bartender, a watchman and a radio presenter. In 1991 he came out with a literary debut. The novelist is one of the Stanislav phenomenon representatives, the winner of “Smoloskyp” prize in 1997, the winner of the Joseph Conrad prize and of the literary contest “Best Ukrainian Book” — 2007.

He is the author of stories, short stories, series of the short stories for radio and essays. The majority of Prokhasko’s books have been issued in Poland also.

Literary, Short Stories

LEXICON OF SECRETIVE KNOWLEDGE LEKSIKON TAEMNYKH ZNAN This is a book of collected stories united by the same style and logic so that they can be read separately or as a whole. This is a handbook for the contemporary Ukrainian intellectual. The book is based on four stories that have been published in the first book of the author “Other Anna’s Days” which is translated into Polish.

This is an effort to cognize the world with the help of sense perceptions. It seems that Prokhas’ko on purpose plays with smells, color, touches and feelings transmission. Love and betrayal are being arisen here and all of it is taking place against the autumn background which is the beginning and the end of everything existing and of everything giving life and the life itself. Prokhas’ko does not divide between different age groups of readers and communicates with them trying to open hearts, experiences and feelings of the characters for them.

The characters of his short stories disassemble the world to separate parts, put them into the lists, then add to those lists of things records of sensations, dreams, possible and impossible experiments with their own psycho and look for the physical endurance limits. Boundaries between real, imaginary and halfimaginary things in this world are very changeable. Visually all these lists and lexicons are the closest to the list of beautiful things enumeration from the classical Japanese poetry in the adopted variant by Peter Greenway.

Publications in other languages: 1998, English (“Necropolis”) 2001, Polish (“Other Anna’s Days”, book edition) Awards: prize-winner of the international literary contest “Smoloskyp — 1997”

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Iren ROZDOBUDKO co-worker Zarina is horrible. Only three people stay in the office.

They are the boss Liliana, the secretary Volodymyr and Vera. The question is who is going to become the next victim. Vera begins suffering from nightmares. She consults a psychiatrist. When she was a child this doctor helped her to overcome the critical state and “coded” certain facts of her biography. Now these facts are going to be the only help for disclosing crimes and saving life.

Granted licenses: Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Ukraine (trade edition, Folio Publishing House) Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Ukraine (screen adoption, TV-serial, Star Media) Awards: prize-winner of the All-Ukrainian literary contest “Crowning the Word — 2000”

Iren ROZDOBUDKO

Work was written by Autors in two languages: Ukrainian and Russian

(1962) She is a journalist, a writer and a book illustrator. She was born in Donetsk and graduated from the Kyiv University, Journalistics Department. Then she worked as a telegrapher, a presenter on radio at the metallurgical factory, a waitress in a restaurant, a circus sprechstalmeister, a journalist and a correspondent of newspapers, magazines and radio. At present she works as an editor-in chief of the magazine “Stories Caravan” Rozdobudko is the author of two books of collected poems, books for children and numerous novels. Now she mainly works on the screen versions of her own books. In 2008 premiere of the adopted TV-screen version of her novel “Button” took place.

The novelist is the prize-winner of numerous literary contests such as “Crowning the Word”, “Book of the Year”, “Book of the Year BBC”, Nestor the Chronicler Prize, Bestselling Author of the year 2006, International Yuri Dolgoruki Prize etc.

Horror&Thriller

TRAP FOR THE FIREBIRD PASTKA DLYA ZHAR-PTYTSI In the psychological thriller “Trap for the Firebird” office workers and a business-lady are the main characters. Book does not reveal the whole life of little Vera who has lived in a prestigious district of Kyiv owing to the fact that her mother worked as a woman taking care of the yard and the pavement in front of the house (as a dvornik). Scenes of her complicated childhood have been left without attention because now Vera is a successful journalist and business-lady who is offered a new job at the beginning of the story. Envy and hatred reign at her new office but this is not a problem for Vera. However from the very first day of her work some strange thing start happening. “Tanned Barbie” Alina has been found hanged in the office. This is only the first death in a chain of weird accidents. Then Yaroslava dies seemingly because of the drugs overdose. The death of another

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ESCORT TO DEATH ESKORT U SMERT This is a psychological thriller. The action develops around a newly created company “Escort-Service” that offers specific services. Respectable woman can hire young men-companions for parties, theatre and other social events. Some day boys working as such companions start to be found in streets dead. All of them are fair-haired men with blue eyes and somebody cuts a lock of their hair after they are dead. Against the background of permanent fear a new worker comes to “Escort”. His name is Orest and he has fair hair. The blond-haired policeman Roman investigating the case uses him as a bait.

Two love stories arise against the background of three murders: Dana with Orest and Roman with Lana. At the same time Lana is the main witness for the investigator. Lana works at the reception at night. She is a disabled person and never leaves her wheelchair. Her knees are always covered with cushion embroidered with beads. Age and illness have changed Lana so much that Roman does not recognize Svitlana, a girl who loved him many years ago. She decided by herself that he was the Pure Prince. However, Roman chose another girl. Svitlana tried to commit a suicide, survived but became an invalid. Now she is a friend of Dana. She was gifted enough to become a good designer but everything went some other way. Lana decided to sell her sketches to Dana’s husband for some symbolical fee.

Instead he pledges his word to do whatever she wants. So, Lana uses him as a killer of blond-haired boys.

Granted licenses: Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Ukraine (trade edition, Folio Publishing House) Awards: prize-winner of the All-Ukrainian literary contest “Crowning the Word — 2001”

Right Catalog: Fiction

Vasyl SHKLYAR

THE KEY KLYUCH

Vasyl SHKLYAR (1951) Vasyl Shklyar is one of the most titled contemporary Ukrainian writers. He was born in Cherkassy region. Then he graduated from the Yerevan University (Armenia). He worked as an editor, a journalist, was in a number of hot spots (Chechnya, Abkhazya, Karabakh). In 1998 he got to a reanimation having a deathly diagnose and in spite of the doctors’ “help” survived. It took him only one month after that to write his most popular novel “The Key”.

The novelist is an author of more than ten prose books.

The most popular of them are “Owl’s Shadow”, “Nostalgia”, “Elemental”, “Bat’s Blood” and others. The writer became a prizewinner of many literary contests. His favorite prize is “Author whose books are the most stolen from the bookshops”. The works by Vasyl Shklyar have been translated into Swedish, Bulgarian, Armenian, Russian and other languages. His novel “The Key” has become a phenomenon of the modern Ukrainian literature. It has been reissued eight times in Ukraine and has won the whole collection of prizes.

Novel Spy Fiction

This is an exciting social-philosophical novel containing element of a detective story and a mystic thriller.

Andrij Krajnij, a journalist and a philologist, earns his living by writing election programs for political parties. He looks for some apartment to rent and gets a key from the apartment number 13, Rognidynska-street from quite a stranger. All the next events of the novel are connected to the clearing up who is the owner of the apartment and efforts to find him. Making those efforts the main character gets acquainted with a charming woman Sana. They keep search together. So, Andrij has to fulfill two tasks. One of them is to find the key to the heart and the body of his beloved one and the second task is to get rid of the key from the apartment. Andrij finds nor far from the village of Nekrychi people who are guilty in disappearing of the artist who has owned the apartment number 13. This is a weird married couple Savatij Yarchuk, the former militiamen, and his dark-skinned and sexually obsessed wife Kamilla. They run a comfortable hotel “Mill”.

As it turned out the artist Olexandr Ostapchuk escaped from Kyiv the same night when he passed the key to Krajnij. Then he got into the trap of Yarchuk and Kamila, the inmate of the same Children’s Home where he had been brought up. Andrij and Sana traced him. They got to the same trap. However Andrij manages not only to survive but also to get rid of the key — he passes it to the next stranger…

Granted licenses: Russia (Vostok-Zapad). Term of the license is over.

Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Ukraine (trade edition, Folio Publishing House) Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Publications in other languages: 1999, Bulgarian (book edition) 2007, Armenian (book edition) Translation for other languages: Russian (full text) Swedish (full text) Awars: first award of the literary contest “Golden Babaj” winner of Suchasnist’ magazine contest award of the magazine “Oligarch” prize-winner of the international convent of the fantasy authors “Centuries Spiral”

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Vasyl SHKLYAR

BAT’S BLOOD KROV KAZHANA This is a mystical detective story in Quentin Tarantino’s style about an investigation of a murder. The novel has been written on behalf of a woman. It could be harmonically installed into the series of novels “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco and “La piel del tambor” by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

The main character of the novel Anastasia is a woman who strives for men and unbelievably enjoys physical intimacy. She has sex with a priest. He in his own turn feels passion towards Anastasia. In her list there are a member of the parliament, her husbands’ woman-secretary, wizard from the Lysa mountain.

Even her servant-dwarf at some moment is perceived as a man by her.

One evening the husband of Anastasia disappears. In the house strange things start taking place. The woman is driven mad by all this and at some moment she gets to the mental hospital. The investigator saves her from that place. He knows that the husband did not disappear. He had been killed.

Anastasia had done that…

Granted licenses: Russia (Vostok-Zapad). The term of the license is over.

Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine)

ELEMENTAL Elemental differs from a human being only because he has more than one soul. The adventure novel written on the basis of the documentary facts well-known to the author tells about such a mystical transformation. The private of the elite sub-unit of the French Foreign Legion Henri Duchamp gets a dangerous secretive task to convey to France the Chechen general’s daughter who is chased by the Russian secret services. He has been given this task not by chance. He knows Chechnya very well. Earlier he was excluded from the RomanGermanic Philology Department of the University because of his participation in a patriotic organization where they were taught the martial arts. After his service in the armed forces the first thing he tries to do is to find his girl-friend Asya. His friends told him that she was unfaithful to him, fell in love with Chechen boy Beslan and went with him to the Caucasus. He decided to go to Chechnya in order to find her there. The boy joins one of the Chechen units and finds all the proofs that whatever he has found about his girl is true though he has considered her to be the only one worth his trust.

The years have passed. Now he is Henri Duchamp by name.

After he fulfills his task he will be paid half a million francs. As a representative of the Red Cross Duchamp gets to Chechnya, finds necessary people and goes for a girl Heda by name. But it is too late. Heda has been taken to Moscow. During the operation aimed at the freeing of the hostage Duchamp recognizes Asya among agents of the Russian Federal secret service.

He manages to free Heda. In the refuge situated in the center of Moscow where they stay alone in the tense and scary atmosphere because of the necessity to escape from enemies as well as from the friends striving for some reward they love each other passionately. Regardless all the unexpected circumstances and difficulties the mission will be completed.

However, what kind of task it was and what was Heda’s role in it Duchamp would find out in the end…

Granted licenses: Ukraine (club edition, Family Leisure Club — DirectGroup Bertelsmann) Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Awars: first award of the All-Ukrainian literary contest “Crowning the Word — 2001”

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Alla SYEROVA Everything is changed by an unexpected visit. Dana is offered a big sum of money for keeping silence concerning the details of her daughter and mother-in-law deaths. This event wakes a tigress in Dana and she seeks for revenge.

Dana starts an investigation under some other name. It turns out that the story of all those people who are involved into Dana’s tragedy began at the place where she lived as a child.

Later Dana finds out that from the very day of her daughter’s death she has been shadowed. Romantic motifs and strict reality of life are closely bound.

Language of original text is Russian

Alla SYEROVA (1970) She is a real estate agent and a lawyer. She was born in Nikopol. Now she lives in Zaporizhzhja. The novelist is a former professor of philology and motor crosser, wrote seven novels and a book of collected poems. Her debut novel “Rules of the Game” won the Gran-prix of “Crowning the Word” contest.

According to her own words she dreamed of being a writer when she was only six years old. The stories for her future books she “watches” in her mind like a film. Probably this is the main reason why all the novels by Alla Syerova are so cinematographic. While reading them a reader can see “a live picture” emerging out of the text. All her main characters are women since she considers that women are more complicated and so much more interesting than men.

Mystery & Mystique, Detective & Crime, Reality prose, Science Fiction, Spy Fiction

TO TAKE AWAY A TIGER CUB ZABRATY TYGRENYA This is a story about a teenagers’ company whose friendship is sealed with blood and a real murder. The years have passed.

Each of them lives his own “normal” life. Suddenly an accident ruins life of the main character of the novel. Her husband dies in the car accident and she gives birth to a son who at the moment is an orphan already. In time her daughter and mother-in-law who has become the best friends after her husband’s death also perish in an accident. Dana stays alone, the son is brought up by her parents and she thinks over the possibility of suicide.

DIFFERENT CHANCE INSHYJ SHANS This is a science fiction about the global catastrophe and an attempt to revive the civilization avoiding the gross errors of the past.

Lora Krossovska, a successful writer, has a short vacation in Vienna. She enjoys the rest and solitude but one day in her hotel room the telephone rings. Professor Polansky on behalf of some research center insists on their meeting. She gets an explanation that in some time the Earth is going to enter into the meteoroid stream. Each of the meteoroids will be as big as the Tunguska meteoroid. This will evoke a global catastrophe.

Under the influence of hot temperature snows and glaciers will melt and as a result the Earth will suffer from a flood, gigantic waves, changes of the climate and the continents’ contours.

For many reasons it is impossible to build enough dug-outs for saving all the people though a part of humanity will be saved.

Those who survive will become a basis for the new humanity.

However everything will be quite different. People will be cast away for thousands of years. At the same time there is different chance. Everything can get back to the norm much faster, for some 500 years the humanity will be able to make the way that it has made for several thousands of years. This different chance can be given by the Called and the Selected, that is the group of people who are selected according to a certain program, those who will not break up, get insane, who would not be tempted by the unlimited freedom and who will save themselves and others on the way to revival. Researches have worked out the method of making their bodies to be able to self-recovery which means that they will be practically immortal. Lora is one of 12 selected people, chosen to be the Called and the Selected…

Language of original text is Russian

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Alla SYEROVA

FALSE BOTTOM PODVIYNE DNO

ANOTHER SPECIES INSHYJ VYD

This is a psychological criminal story about the past debts. The main character Eliza Klymkovska is a former inmate of a Children’s Home and all of a sudden gets into the center of attention of the German private detectives, lawyers, the State Intelligence Service of Ukraine and local criminals. Trying to comprehend what is going on she finds out the real story of her birth and her parents’ destiny.

All of the unpredictable events in the novel take place against the background of the present day life of Ukrainian province and the present day life of the former “wolf children” — the inmates of the Children’s Homes. The main character having simple name Eliza and her best friend having a nick-name Rudyj (Red-haired) have to understand the situation taking place long ago. The author fills the story not only with dynamic displacements-escapes-searches of the main characters but with such mere “trifles” as autumn leaves, winter, shower, fast drives, microbes and philosophical questions that, of course, remain without answer.

However the most interesting thing is that in spite of all the everyday problems, betrayal of the former friends, lies, unfaithfulness, distrust and dirt Liza all the same is lucky. Besides, she is convinced that if to be stubborn in achieving her goal everything is going to be fine. Strangely enough she is right and everything is fine though not the way as with Hollywood characters or if to precise not only this way…

This story begins in a very simple way: undergraduates of the university pass their summer exams. All of them are interested about where they have appointed for the summer practice during which they will collect the folklore. Only seven of them do not show interest towards this issue. They are Marjan Kyrtych, Natalka Boretska, Vika Berest, Rita Gres, Katya Semenets, Lika Ruban and Sabrina, All of them want to go into the research activities and do not care what place they have to be sent to.

Finally they go to Zakarpattja under the supervision of the postgraduate student Orest Starodomsky.

While traveling first friendly and romantic feelings arise inside the company, the life seems to be joyful and happy. They still are not aware of those mysteries that they have to encounter.

After coming to the place students face first problems which are common so far.

Later the planned collection of the folklore turns into the collision with ancient mysteries, dead deities and dark water.

They still do not know that they are going to meet new friends Zoltan, Henhet and Milena. However not all of them will return back home. Besides, one of them knew everything that was still waiting them in awaiting.

Work was written by Autors in two languages: Ukrainian and Russian

RULES OF THE GAME PRAVYLA HRY

WITCH BREED VIDJOMSKIJ RID This is a mystical novel. Not very long ago they were ordinary people having a bunch of their own problems and did not know what kind of power they bore in themselves. Sensation and comprehension of their strength comes gradually and painfully.

It is especially difficult for the main character Liliya. At the beginning she is an ordinary woman who experiences a run of bad luck. She lost her job, her husband left her and went to her friend, her last money had been stolen in the public transport…

However the acquaintance with a witch Renata changes her life completely.

“At first there were First Masters. There were twelve of them. He gave them the Earth. They at nearly destroyed the universe with their strength. So, their time had passed and they had to hand out their Power to Successors and to leave, but THIS ONE did not do that. He did not want to leave. He is the last one of the First Masters… He breaks the Balance destroying the Successors. He can be stopped only in case when the Warrior Walking in the Darkness, the Guard and the Healing will get together and unite against THIS. For the first time they gathered 500 years ago near Leon. Their names were Lily, Rene and Antoine. However they were not ready for the war. They were children then. But now they are prepared for the battle. Their names are Liliya, Renata and Anton.

Language of original text is Russian

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This is an exciting story about a young woman who is chased by the secret service of several countries. She “knows too much” because she has been brought up in the family of professional intelligence agents and has been saved by miracle in course of the operation aimed at her parents “annihilation”.

The young woman wakes up in a room and finds out that she cannot remember anything. It turns out that she is in the hospital where has spent a month after an operation. Doctors tell her that her name is Yulia Yasynska, she is a designer of the fashion house that half belongs to her. Yulia has to get familiar with her life all over again. Her friend and a former psychiatrist Svitlana helps her. It turns out that Yulia has got to the hospital after the accident with her car being pushed off from the road…

At the same time Yulia returns back to the work, meets a new boyfriend and defends herself against the men. She found out that the participated in the high fashion the week in Paris and she was a joint owner of another fashion agency that stopped its existence after her partner committed suicide and was a suspect in the case of women trade.

After these “discoveries” Yulia starts the true investigation. At that time new intrigues are being developed around her.

Audiobooks, Theatre play, Radio-reading etc: Ukraine (audio book, CDcom Ukraine) Awards: first award of the All-Ukrainian literary contest “Crowning the Word — 2000” Work was written by Autors in two languages: Ukrainian and Russian

Right Catalog: Fiction

Halyna TKACHUK

SLAVKA

Halyna TKACHUK (1985) She was born in the city of Khmelnytskyj. Now she studies at the Faculty of Humanities of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and is a prize-winner of many literary contests (“Granoslov”, “Young Wine”, “Young and Talented”). Her debut as an author of parables took place in 2004. In 2006 the first book of Halyna Tkachenko’s prose had been edited. It contained two pieces of prose (“Slavka” and “Lyuty”) as well as several parables.

Extracts of these books have been translated into Polish and published in some Polish magazines.

The book includes two stories “Slavka” and “Lyuty” that have the same characters. The action takes place in the suburb of Kyiv called Boyarka and its neighborhood. The main characters are children. Girls Slavka and Lilya, boys Monya, Iov and Ioanikij live in some strange world. In fact this world is very changeable because of the children’s wishes as well as of different relativereal wizards (Dnipro, Bug, Lyuty) who practice witchcraft here and there.

These are really strange children. Eight-years-old Slavka from time to time gives way to hysterics. Baby Ioanikij is brought up by the efforts of the whole community. Lilya being a courageous stalker looks for the underground treasures and finds them. The boy Monya appears like a ghost in the river fog trying to save from the water something resembling either a wooden idol or a lonely gnome without a nose from a distanced children’s playground. In fact he has come from a different universe where happy children play with their little shovels in the sunny sandbox and quarrel with each other, make it up and go away home when their mothers call them to dinner. In the world depicted in the book everything is quite different. There are eternal twilight, cold, rain, snow, hostels full of unemployed drug addicts, squeaky doors and mailboxes with letters stained with blood in it. Children go to look for the treasure and overcome huge distances. Coming back from the voyage and carrying the precious treasure the children defend themselves from the town inhabitants. Disappointed adults keep aloof from the world in which children still try to find something for themselves such as the treasure, the way, friends…

The children’s world coexists with the world of adults. They are able to intersect but they never interfere with each other.

You know, in the “right” children’s world everybody has one more family and one more job.

Publications in other languages 2007, 2008, Polish (extracts of the story “Slavka”)

Reality prose, Short Stories

PROSA URSINA In this book collected short parables are presented. The main characters of a number of them are bears (this is reflected in the title of the book). Together with bears squirrels and mice also live here. In the parable titles “Varnava Bear” the bad gray field-mouse built a nest on the bear’s back and made him to marry her. The story “Violet Cunning Animal” is opposite to the previously mentioned one. Here a bear starts visiting the nest of a mouse. The main reason for that was that he ate, drank and then usually left. “Bear from Gubbio” is in fact a new legend about Saint Francis of Assisi told by a bear.

Sometimes these are stories told by a little child. For example the story about “how a Puss in Boots has brought me to my parents” does not have anything in common with Perrot’s fairytale. Another story of the kind is about a Cat that walks by herself. Finally the story “Wedding of Otso” tells about everything at once: about people, bears, squirrels and others.

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Right Catalog: Fiction

Natalka ZABRAMSKA

Natalka ZABRAMSKA death for the squirrel barging into it with the whole self as well as for the source of the Zone.

There is nothing casual in Eudokia’s life. The whole diverse and kind of random mosaic of her hanging around the city, thoughts, emotional outcomes and intuitive insights sum up into the clear and understandable picture for professionals of the Department. She is not supposed to love someone but if it is necessary for the mission the love will emerge in her life.

Just to be lost nearly at once. The Guard whose name is Henry has to push the squirrel to the fi nal stage of the Zone’s source detecting and at the same time he is the only person who can evoke the squirrel’s love. According to the corporative rules he appears in order to give back the lost will for life and then to leave. To leave for good.

The mission is over. It has been fulfi lled nearly perfectly. The conflict has been resolved this or that way. The Guard disappears according to the strict professional rules. The squirrel’s life has been saved. Though the sense of her life has been lost once and for all. The Guard can perform his mission only once in the life.

The squirrel can be the Guarding Object also no more that once in the life. However, they can exchange their roles under some special circumstances. There are enough special circumstances in the novel in order to produce a hope to see each other once again. Then something may happen.

(1966) She is a social psychologist, a translator, a research associate of the Institute for Social and Political Psychology, works as an analyst of the information and analytical department of the television news service. Zabramska is the author of aphorisms, psychological prose and a number of articles in psychology.

Short Stories

HI, HENRY HI, HENRY The profession and the life of the novel’s principal character constitute the indivisible entity. Secret Department where she occupies the confl ict clusters coordinator position (“squirrel” as they call her in the corporative slang) has chosen her among many others because she combines strictness verging on severity and an extraordinary vulnerability. This rare combination makes it possible to the squirrel to be a success while fulfi lling her mission. The squirrel is an instrument of fi nding the source of a mighty pain. It is necessary to fi nd a person among millions of other people who challenges the fragile balance of the world by her/his feelings. The balance that is not very stable even without the challenge. This person is not a maniac, not a criminal, and not a conscious terrorist. It can be a little taxpayer, but his mighty emotions can implicate the Zone. The Zone approaches together with unreasonable and too numerous plane crashes, fatal and absurd accidents and unexplainable severe depression encompassing whole cities and countries. The task of the principal character is to fi nd the one who evokes the Zone and to prevent the expansion of the Zone. The mission is a risk verging to death. The squirrel may fi nd the suff ering soul but the resolving of such a diffi cult emotional confl ict having gone beyond the bounds of a personal fate becomes a mortal danger. It can turn into the

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ALWAYS ZAVZHDY “Always” — are collected short stories created out of the gist of secretive thoughts that people rarely confess. Problems of a person’s loneliness in a big city, the issue of being not properly understood and forsaken, issues of consciousness stratification and some parallel worlds existing in it. Connoisseurs of Borges’ and Cortazar’s works will find in these short stories their favorite motifs.

The main character of the short stories has no name and is of no age. Instead she has heavy gaze and a habit to raise high barriers between the world and herself that are insurmountable for dweebs… This woman lives in a cluttered up apartment with dark-blue or green curtains and works a lot.

The character often encounters other dimensions and their inhabitants. In one of the stories she lives in two worlds — one of them is “real” and another one — “from dreams”, in the other story her house turns into some changeable and unpredictable ecosystem. One more story tells how she finds out that she has “a double” living some part of her life instead of her.

The woman is lonely. As for love… In some stories love is uncontrollable savage power, in some others — it is a silence and a warmth. However, in every text love is still ephemeral. Male characters of the stories have no names — only “honey”, “He”, “birdie”. The same with their appearances, habits, tempers — they haven’t any of it and pass right in front of the woman’s and the audience’s eyes like gray spots.

Describing in her own way the city, the weather, the transport the author produces an impression that all of it is not phenomena and subjects but only their conditional signs drawn on rough pasteboard. More important from the author’s point of view is the anatomy of the psycho states in different life situations, collisions of people’s relations as a ground for waging war with one’s own self.