The Lviv Polytechnic Library hosted a literary evening with a presentation of «The Voice of War. The Literary Front» – a three-volume collection of poems compiled by Natalia Kalynovska, manager of the All-Ukrainian project «In Rhymes the Word Comes to Life». She told about the book and the poetry written by Ukrainian children since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as introduced the project’s jury members, who had the opportunity to speak on the topic of poetry.
The books are presented in chronological order. The first collection was published in 2022, at a time when Ukrainians in all regions were experiencing the unfolding of terrible military events. The collection of poems is a kind of poetic chronicle of events through the eyes of children from all over Ukraine, who joined the competition led by Natalia Kalynovska.
– The book «The Voice of War. The Literary Front» was compiled in 2022, in the first months of the full-scale war. At that time, I received works by children, because on the eve of the war, just like now, we announced a competition for the International Mother Language Day. Then I got hold of a poem that was not submitted to the competition. This poem ends the first book. It was a story about the war, a poem by Maria Bukhtiarova, said Natalia Kalynovska.
The impetus for collecting and compiling further poems about the war was the extremely strong spirit of Ukrainian children. Their poetry inspired Natalia and strengthened her inner core:
– The history of Ukraine is being written in their words. When I realised that such a generation is growing up in our country, I couldn’t keep these works in the mailbox.
Kateryna Shchepteva, an author whose works are included in two books, joined the conversation. She is a student of the Institute of Economics and Management at Lviv Polytechnic. For her, it was an opportunity to recite her own poem and share her feelings.
In fact, the war has not become the main reason for children’s talents to be revealed. Natalia Kalynovska and her team started the project «In Rhymes the Word Comes to Life» before the full-scale invasion. Only now it has somewhat changed its format: instead of being local, it has become all-Ukrainian with the support of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine, the Department of Education and Science, the Lviv Municipal Library, and other institutions.
Natalia Kalynovska is the author of 27 books of poetry, Honoured Artist of Ukraine, a member of the National Union of Writers and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, as well as the Ukrainian Writers’ Association. She is the head of the Lviv branch of the All-Ukrainian Writers of Boikivshchyna Association, founder and chairman of the jury of the All-Ukrainian literary competition for students «In Rhymes the Word Comes to Life», and a lecturer at Lviv Polytechnic National University.
On 31 May 2022, Lviv Polytechnic Library became the first to present the book in an online format.
