HURI Books

TOLIK: What’s up?
ANTON: The bridge is gone.
TOLIK: Been gone for a while. Got blown up a week ago. Before the truce.
ANTON: I didn’t know that.
—

This is how SerhiyZhadan’s (Сергій Жадан [офіційна сторінка]) masterful play, 𝘈 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘦 (translated by Nina Murray) begins, with a dialogue between two brothers, who return to their childhood home to bury their recently passed mother. But under the shadow of war, a natural human ritual turns into an absurd logistical nightmare brought about by the destroyed bridge and impending violence. Isolated without power or running water, the brothers’ only hope for survival rests on a fragile, declared cease-fire—the harvest truce. However, this truce is not able to stop the war even for a moment.

Through humor and sharp, biting dialogue, Zhadan reveals how ordinary life stubbornly continues, even when the ground beneath it crumbles.

Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University

✨We're delighted to reveal the cover of the forthcoming edition of 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴 by Bohdana Matiyash, translated from by Yevheniia Dubrova.

Presented here both in the original and English translation, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴 offers Anglophone readers a lyrical encounter with contemporary beyond the frame of war.

Intimate, contemplative, and quietly luminous, this collection speaks to the fragile bonds that connect humans, animals, nature, and the unseen dimensions of everyday life.

👀 Stay tuned for more updates. There’s a lot of exciting news on the horizon!

Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University

💫We are thrilled to announce the release of our latest 2026-27 Publications Catalog! Inside, you will find profound studies and captivating literature opening new dimensions of the Ukrainian experience for readers worldwide. Here is a sneak peek at some of the titles featured in the new catalog:
🔸𝘙𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺 by Maria Mayerchyk, translated by Andriy Nahachewsky—a study that explores how human bodies respond to life’s biggest transitions and invites readers to consider the body as a powerful language through which communities make sense of loss, , and belonging.
🔸𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 by Oless Ulianenko, translated by Olha Rudakevych—a whirlwind story of a man trying to survive the turbulent years in after the collapse of the , losing all hope yet clinging to a fragile faith in humanity.
🔸𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘐𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦 by Myroslav Laiuk, translated by Ali Kinsella—a multi-generational saga about a family that, over the centuries, has faced challenges and strived to overcome them while remaining true to its values. Together, they confront the timeless question of what it means to create something new—a country, a person, an idea—and why that act of creation matters.
🔸𝘍𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘹 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢 by Sophia Andrukhovych, translated with an introduction by Vitaly Chernetsky—a neo-Gothic novel about the peculiar relationship between Adela, a daughter of a wealthy German doctor, and her orphaned maid Stefania. Set in the multiethnic world of the late Habsburg Empire, this novel uses inventive narrative devices to bring the atmosphere and everyday life of a lost era.
🔸𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 by Alexei Nikitin, translated by Catherine O'Neil and Dominique Hoffman—an epic novel about the mysterious fate of Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Ilya Goldinov during , whose files remained buried under the KGB’s “top secret” label for 70 years.
🔸𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 by Svitlana Krasynska—a ground-breaking study of informal practices in Ukraine's and their impact on navigating social, economic, and political challenges.

Find the link in the comments below ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University

🌍 Translating Ukraine Summer Institute 2026

📍 Wroclaw, Poland | 🗓 6–17 July 2026

Emerging and mid‑career translators are invited to join the intensive twelve-day training in Ukrainian‑English literary and academic translation.

✅ 20 participants will be selected through a competitive two‑stage application.

📌 Stage 1 deadline: 1 February 2026.

Three modules: literary prose, poetry, and nonfiction/academic texts. Countless opportunities to grow!

👉 Apply now and be part of this global network.

📣 NEW from Serhii Plokhy and HURI Books! Join us on Feb 11 at 5 pm for the launch of Serhii Plokhy’s latest book, 📘 David and Goliath: Commentaries on the Russo-Ukrainian War. We’ll have books available for purchase at the event.

🗓️ Wednesday, February 11 at 5:00-6:30 pm EST

📍 ONLINE AND ON CAMPUS | CGIS-Knafel Building, 2nd Floor, Room K-262

💡 The biblical image of David and Goliath aptly captures the nature of the war Russia launched against neighboring Ukraine. Collected here for the first time are short essays, commentaries, and interviews by Serhii Plokhy from the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine through the following two years of war. In this volume, Plokhy demonstrates that history can help explain Ukraine’s resolve and success, both on the battlefield and in the public arena.

💙 Serhii Plokhy is the Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University

🔗 Learn more about the event: https://www.huri.harvard.edu/event/serhii-plokhii-david-and-goliath-commentaries-russo-ukrainian-war

🔗 Read the book: https://books.huri.harvard.edu/books/plokhy-david-and-goliath

📣 On April 2, historians Filip Slaveski and Yurii Shapoval will discuss their book: 📘Stalin’s Liquidation Game: The Unlikely Case of Oleksandr Shums'kyi, His Survival in Soviet Prison, and His Subsequent Arcane Assassination. Oleh Kotsyuba, the Director of Print and Digital Publications at HURI, will host the conversation. The book is available from HURI Books: https://books.huri.harvard.edu/books/stalins-liquidation-game

📍 ONLINE | Thursday, April 2 at 2:00-3:30 pm EDT

💡 Millions of innocent people were arrested in Stalin’s Soviet Union during the 1930s. Under violent interrogation, many were forced to confess to crimes they did not commit. Oleksandr Shums´kyi was one of the very few who refused to confess. Despite being mercilessly punished and even paralyzed, Shums´kyi survived for years. This book unravels the Shums’kyi riddle to explain why. In doing so, it opens a new window into understanding the history of Soviet repression and the Russian pathologies toward Ukrainian independence, which help us understand Russia’s current war against Ukraine.

🔗 LEARN MORE and register to attend: https://www.huri.harvard.edu/event/stalins-liquidation-game-book-talk-filip-slaveski-yurii-shapoval

Congratulations to Nina Murray on winning the 2025 Drahoman Prize for her translation of CASSANDRA by Lesia Ukrainka (Larysa Kosach)! As the publisher of that book and the institution that nominated Nina for this award, we are absolutely thrilled to see Nina's hard work recognized with this prize! We at HURI Books have published already four books translated by Nina (one of them co-translated with Zenia Tompkins), and we invite you to explore them here: https://books.huri.harvard.edu/translators/6