A Poetic Response to Russia’s War in Ukraine by the Russophone Diaspora

• In Event: Russophone Poetry in the Diaspora

Abstract

Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine has unleashed an unprecedented outpouring of Russophone anti-war poetry. This body of work includes contributions from Ukrainians writing in Russian, expatriates from Russia and the post-Soviet space, and poets still residing in the Russian Federation. I believe this response stands unmatched in the history of world literature.
Numerous platforms have documented this poetic surge, including the online ROAR review and anthologies like Yurii Leving’s Poeziia poslednego vremeni and the bilingual volumes Disbelief and Dislocation, compiled by translators from the US, Canada, and the UK. While proofreading Disbelief in 2022 for submission to Smokestack Books, we repeatedly updated the author bios. Ukrainian authors were fleeing bombardment, while Russian-based authors left the Federation to escape its suffocating atmosphere. Consequently, most contributors became émigrés, with their reflections on displacement alongside their shock and grief at the war featured in the anthology.
Of all the arts, poetry uniquely serves as a first responder to tragedy—providing an outlet for outcry, therapy, resistance, and interpretation. Dislocation, published in autumn 2024, expands thematically on Disbelief, exploring the experiences of émigrés and those long exiled. As Galina Itskovich observed, the volume “reminds us that when life’s plot betrays us, we are still left with words.”
As editor of Disbelief and Dislocation and founder of Kopilka, an archive of anti-war writing, I will reflect on the trauma faced by émigré poets, their resistance to evil, and their efforts to sustain hope in the shadow of war.

Author

• Julia Nemirovskaya, U of Oregon