A black-and-white picture of Iya Kiva looking out the window. Een zwart-witfoto van Iya Kiva die uit het raam kijkt.

Iya Kiva (UKR)

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Iya Kiva (UKR)

Iya Kiva (1984, UKR) is one of today’s most important Ukrainian poets and documents war from the inside. All the worst-case scenarios you might see listed on an emergency-preparedness leaflet, we live through in Kiva’s poems. With clear, rhythmic verse, she shows how war seeps into everything: into her memories, her everyday actions, even into language itself. Her poetry is testimony, to record what might later be rewritten. It is her way of offering a consoling voice to her compatriots.​

How you might know this poet

  • Winner of the Kovaly Prize (Lesia & Petro Kovaly Literary Competition), an international Ukrainian literature prize, for Laughter from a Dying Bonfire.​
  • Winner of the Smoloskyp Poetry Prize, a key Ukrainian literary award for young independent authors.​
  • Her work has been translated into 33 languages.​

A black-and-white picture of Iya Kiva looking out the window. Een zwart-witfoto van Iya Kiva die uit het raam kijkt.
© Yashika Graham

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