Women's Voices in Ukrainian Literature

[Natalia Pylypiuk]

JUST PUBLISHED:  the first two volumes of a new series of Ukrainian
literature in English translation entitled *Women's Voices in Ukrainian
Literature*.

Volume I, *The Spirit of the Times* (480 pp), contains short fiction by
two authors: Olena Pchilka (1849-1930), a social activist who challenged
the norms governing the status of women in society, and Nataliia
Kobryns'ka (1851-1920), a leading theoretician of feminist thought. Their
writings present a poignantly accurate picture of the social conditions
of their day and their devastating effect on women.

The first author presented in Volume II, *In the Dark of the Night* (473
pp), is Dniprova Chaika (1861-1927), whose manuscripts were confiscated
because of their subversive social and political content. The works of
the second author, Liubov Ianovs'ka (1861-1933), reflect her commitment
to the improvement of women's lives at all levels of society and a
compassionate understanding of both the peasantry and the
intelligentsia, each caught in the debilitating social structures and
mores of their separate worlds.

The translator of the series is Roma Franko, former Head of the Department
of Slavic Studies and the Department of Modern Languages at the
University of Saskatchewan.

This project was inaugurated as relatively unknown writings of Ukrainian
women were uncovered, and their value as social history and the
timelessness of their concerns were recognized. The translation of their
works into English permits their message to transcend temporal,
geographical, and linguistic boundaries.

The editor, Sonia Morris, a former faculty member and senior
administrator in the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan,
brought to the project a background in psycholinguistics, a research
interest in Ukrainian-English bilngualism, and extensive
editing/translating experience.

The next three volumes in this series will be published in 1999. Volume
III, *But the Lord Is Silent*, features the writings of Ol'ha Kobylians'ka
(1863-1942) and Ievheniia Iaroshyns'ka (1868-1904); Volume IV, *From Heart
to Heart*, contains short stories Hryts'ko Hryhorenko (1867-1924) and
prose works by Lesia Ukrainka (1871-1913). Volume V,*Warm the Children, O
Sun*, is devoted to short stories about childhood and adolescence by
women authors of that period.

The two published volumes may be ordered directly from the distributor.
The price per volume in Canada is $14.95 plus GST and mailing costs. The
price per volume outside of Canada is $12.95US plus mailing costs. The
website www.languagelanterns.com provides additional information about
the series and retail outlets.

PUBLISHER AND DISTRIBUTOR
 Language Lanterns Publications          www.languagelanterns.com
 321-4th Avenue North                        Phone: 1- 306-955-5499
 Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7K  2L9      Fax: 1- 306-374-4142

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posted by

Natalia Pylypiuk
Modern Languages & Cultural Studies
University of Alberta

www.ualberta.ca/~uklanlit/Homepage.html