Lyuba Yakimchuk is an award-winning poet, playwright, and screenwriter born in 1985 in Pervomaisk, Luhansk region, Ukraine. She is the author of several poetry collections, including Apricots of Donbas (2015; published in English translation in 2021 by Lost Horse Press). The French translation of this book was shortlisted for the 2024 prestigious Prix Mallarmé étranger. Yakimchuk is also the celebrated author of two plays and two film scripts, including one for the documentary The Slovo House (2017) about Ukrainian modernist artists arrested and killed during the Stalinist purges. Yakimchuk performed her poetry at the 2022 Grammy Awards. Her writing has won numerous awards, been translated into more than 20 languages and covered by The New York Times, BBC, CBC, and CNN.
Lyuba Yakimchuk
Guest Speaker
Poet, Playwright, and Screenwriter, Kiyv, Ukraine
