Serhiy Viktorovych Zhadan (pen name: ''Serhiy Zhadan'') (; born 23 August 1974 in

Starobilsk Starobilsk (; ) is a city in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Starobilsk Raion. The modern settlement was founded in 1686, and it was granted city status in 1938. The city has a population of As a result of the ...

Luhansk oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) is a Ukrainian writer, musician, translator, and social activist. In early June 2024, Zhadan posted on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page that he had joined the 13th "Khartia" Brigade of the

National Guard of Ukraine The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; , ; /NHU ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for public security. Originally created as an agency under the dire ...

which has been in active combat.

Life and career

Zhadan was born in

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

. He graduated from H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University in 1996 with a thesis on the work of Mykhaylo Semenko and the Ukrainian

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

writers of the 1920s. He then spent three years as a graduate student of philology, and taught Ukrainian and world literature from 2000 to 2004. Since then he has worked as a freelance writer. Starting his career in 1990, his verses revolutionized Ukrainian poetry: they were less sentimental, reviving the style of 1920s Ukrainian avant-garde writers like Semenko or Johanssen. And they drew upon his homeland: the industrial landscapes of East Ukraine. ''

Voroshilovgrad Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

'' (the Soviet name for

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

) tells a story of a young man called Herman who left his home city Starobilsk (in the Luhansk region) but who has to come back to his native lands to protect something that belongs to him. Based on the book, Yaroslav Lodygin directed the award-winning movie '' The Wild Fields'' (Дике поле, 2018). Zhadan is an internationally known Ukrainian writer, with 12 books of poetry and 7 novels, and winner of more than a dozen literary awards. In March 2008, the Russian translation of his novel ''Anarchy in the UKR'' made the shortlist of the National Bestseller Prize. It was also a contender for "Book of the Year" at the 2008 Moscow International Book Exhibition. In 2009, he won the Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski Literary Prize. In 2012, ''Gunshot and Knife'' won Ukrainian rating "Book of the Year" for fiction. His 2010 novel ''Voroshylovhrad'' won him the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature in Switzerland, BBC Ukrainian's "Book of the Decade" award and Brücke Berlin Prize. His selected poems ''Dynamo Kharkiv'' won Ukrainian "Book of the Year." (2014) His book ''Mesopotamia'' won the Angelus literature prize in 2015, the Award of the President of Ukraine "Ukrainian Book of the Year" in 2016. From 2016 to 2019, he was a member of the Taras Shevchenko National Award Committee of Ukraine. Serhiy Zhadan 2015

Zhadan has translated poetry from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, English, Belarusian, and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, from such poets as

Paul Celan Paul Celan (; ; born Paul Antschel; 23 November 1920 – c. 20 April 1970) was a German-speaking Romanian poet, Holocaust survivor, and literary translation, literary translator. He adopted his pen name (an anagram of the Romanian spelling Ancel ...

and

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...

. His own works have been translated into German, English,

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

, French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Serbian, Croatian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Georgian, Belarusian, Russian, Hungarian,

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

, and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

. His translated poetry has appeared in Ambit ,

Asymptote In analytic geometry, an asymptote () of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as one or both of the ''x'' or ''y'' coordinates tends to infinity. In projective geometry and related contexts, ...

, Blackbird ,

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

, The Manchester Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, Poetry International, Poetry International Web, Plume.,

The Threepenny Review ''The Threepenny Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1980. It is published in Berkeley, California, by founding editor Wendy Lesser. Maintaining a quarterly schedule (March, June, September, December), it offers fiction, memoirs ...

, Tin House, and

Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussio ...

. In August 2024 Zhadan was featured in a

tv commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

in Ukraine. He wrote for and recited a poem in the commercial.

Theater and multimedia projects

His novel ''Anthem of Democratic Youth'' has been adapted for the stage and performed at the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater in Kyiv. Since 2004, Zhadan has worked with Yara Arts Group from La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York, contributing to the shows: "Koliada: Twelve Dishes" (2005), "Underground Dreams" (2013–2014), "Hitting Bedrock" (2015) and "Radio 477!" (2023). Zhadan and the Dogs appeared at La MaMa in Yara's "1917–2017: Tychyna, Zhadan and the Dogs," (2017), directed by Virlana Tkacz, which received two New York Innovative Theatre Awards, for best music and best musical. His poems "Spy," "Chaplain" and "Needle," translated by Tkacz and Phipps were part of "Blind Spot," an installation by Mykola Ridnyi and Serhii Zhadan for the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale May–July 2015.

Music projects

Zhadan collaborated with Kharkiv-based music band Luk. Most of Luk's Ukrainian-language songs included lyrics based on works by Zhadan (in particular the first album ''Tourist zone'' is based on Zhadan's play ''Merry Christmas, Jesus Christ''). The tribute album ''Khor monholskykh militsioneriv'' (Mongolian police choir) was released in 2008. The songs include lyrics by Zhadan, performed by Kharkiv musicians. Since 2007, Zhadan has collaborated with another Kharkiv band, Dogs in Outer Space (), now known as Zhadan and the Dogs (). They have released the albums '' The Army Sports Club'' (''Sportyvny Klub Armiyi'', 2008), ''Weapons of the Proletatiat'' (''Zbroya Proletariatu'', 2012), ''Fight for Her'' (''Byisya za neyi'', 2012), ''Dogs'' (''Sobaky'', 2016), ''Madonna'' (2019), and ''Lead'' (Vedy, OST

Rhino A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

, 2022) In 2021, Zhadan recorded a full-length album titled "Fokstroty" with Yuriy Gurzhy, a Ukrainian-born, Berlin-based musician, DJ, and producer.

Political activism and military service

Zhadan's active involvement in Ukrainian politics began while a student and has continued throughout the various political crises in Ukraine. In 1992, he was one of the organizers of Kharkiv neo-futuristic literary group "The Red Thistle". He participated in the 2004

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

demonstrations against corruption and voter intimidation in the presidential run-off elections, was the commandant of a tent camp in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. The protests resulted in a revote ordered by Ukraine's Supreme Court. He has repeatedly expressed sympathy for anarchists, and in many of his works there are "left" motifs. In 2013, he was a member of the coordination council of

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, part of the nationwide protests and violent clashes with police. In the aftermaths of the 5-day Maidan revolution, which resulted in Russian-backed President Yanukovych’s resignation, he was assaulted outside the administration building in Kharkiv. Since 2014, Zhadan has made numerous visits to the front lines of the Eastern Donbas region involved in armed conflict with Russian separatists. In February 2017, he co-founded Serhiy Zhadan Charitable Foundation to provide humanitarian aid to front-line cities. When asked, Zhadan has described his political commitments in the following manner: After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Zhadan remained in his hometown of Kharkiv, helping to organize humanitarian aid. Early June 2024 Zhadan posted on his

page that he had joined the 13th "Khartia" Brigade of the

. This unit took part in various battles of the Russian invasion.

Critical reception

2017 Odesa International Film Festival 12

Rostislav Melnikov and Yuriy Tsaplin of the ''New Literary Review'' wrote in 2007:

Zhadan's prose is so poetic, his free verse so prosaic. It is difficult to assign a genre to his work: memoir, travelogue, timely or untimely meditation – or a mixture of all these, centered on the themes ''my generation'' and ''our epoch''.

Kirill Ankudinov, writing for ''Vzglyad.ru'' in June 2008, said:

There is no summarizing the spicy, hot, sweet, vicious improvisations of Serhiy Zhadan – this is verbal jazz. When you read him, you fear for contemporary
Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...
: of those now writing in the Russian language, there is none among them who is so infernally free (and above all, free from "writerly" prose, from the tendency to "produce an impression").

On 5 March 2022, the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

nominated him for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

. In July 2024 Zhadan received the title of honorary professor of philosophy from the Ukrainian Free University in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Books by Serhiy Zhadan published in English translation

*
How Fire Descends: New and Selected Poems
' by Serhiy Zhadan, translated from the Ukrainian by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps. Foreword by Ilya Kaminsky, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2023). *
Sky Above Kharkiv: Dispatches from the Ukrainian Front
�'' by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by Reilly Costigan-Humes 2023. * ''The Orphanage: A Novel'', translated by Reilly Costigan‑Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler, (Yale University Press, 2021) * ''A new orthography : poems,'' Sandpoint, Idaho: Lost Horse Press, 2020. *
What We Live For, What We Die For
Selected Poems'' by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019). *
Mesopotamia
' by Serhiy Zhadan, prose translated by Reilly Costigan-Humes & Isaac Stackhouse Wheele poetry translated by Viralna Tkacz and Wanda Phipps, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018). * ''

'' by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler and Reilly Costigan-Humes, (Dallas: Deep Velum, 2016) * ''Depeche Mode'' by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by Miroslav Shkandrij (London: Glagoslav Publications, 2013). * ''A Harvest Truce: a play'' by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by Nina Murray

In other languages

* Big Mac (Біг Мак. Перезавантаження) — Poland, Czarne, 2005. * Depeche Mode (Депеш Мод) — Poland, Czarne, 2006. * Die Geschichte der Kultur zu Anfang des Jahrhunderts (Історія культури початку століття) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2006. * Depeche Mode (Депеш Мод) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2007. * Hymn demokratycznej młodzieży (Гімн демократичної молоді) — Poland, Czarne, 2008. * Hymne der Demokratischen Jugend (Гімн демократичної молоді) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2009. * Anarchy in the UKR (Anarchy in the UK) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2007. * Big Mäc (Біг Мак. Перезавантаження) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2011. * Die Erfindung des Jazz im Donbass (Ворошиловград) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2012. * Voroshilovgrad — Ukraine, 2011, 2012 (in Russian). * Vorosilovgrád (Ворошиловград) — Hungary, Európa, 2012. * La Route du Donbass (Ворошиловград) — France, Noir sur Blanc, 2013. * Woroszyłowgrad (Ворошиловград) — Poland, Czarne, 2013. * Mezopotamia (Месопотамія) — Poland, Czarne, 2014. * Mesopotamien (Месопотамія) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2015. * Ze života Marie (Життя Марії) — Czech Republic, Větrné mlýny, 2015. * Варашылаўград (Ворошиловград) — Belarus, Логвінаў, 2016. * Džezs pār Donbasu (Ворошиловград) — Latvia, Jāņa Rozes Apgāds, 2016. * Fire Arms and Knives (Вогнепальні й ножові) — Russia, 2016. * La strada del Donbas (Ворошиловград) — Spain, Voland, 2016. * Warum ich nicht im Netz bin: Gedichte und Prosa aus dem Krieg (poems from Життя Марії and Тамплієри, and other texts) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2016. * Drohobycz (poems) — Poland, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 2018. * Hymna demokratickej mládeže (Гімн демократичної молоді) — Slovakia, OZ Brak, 2018. * Internat (Інтернат) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2018. * Poems — Belarus, 2018. * Vorosjylovhrad (Ворошиловград) — Netherlands, De Geus, 2018. * Vorošilovgrad (Ворошиловград) — Slovenia, Beletrina, 2018. * ვოროშილოვგრადი (Ворошиловград) — Georgia, ინტელექტი, 2018. * Internat (Інтернат) — Poland, Czarne, 2019. * What we live for, what we die for (poems) — USA, 2019. * Antena (Антена) — Poland, Warstwy, 2020. * Antenne (poems from Антена and Список кораблів) — Germany, Suhrkamp, 2020. * The Orphanage (Інтернат) — Denmark, Jensen & Dalgaard I/S, 2020. * Depeche Mode (Депеш Мод) — Estonia, 2020. * Anthem of democratic youth (Гімн демократичної молоді) — France, Espace Instant, 2020. * Internatas (Інтернат) – Lithuania, Kitos knygos, 2021. * Himmel über Charkiw. Nachrichten vom Überleben im Krieg - Germany: Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2022.

Works

Poetry

* ''Quotations'' (Цитатник), 1995. * ''General Judas'' (Генерал Юда), 1995. * ''Pepsi'' (Пепсі), (1998). * ''The very best poems, psychedelic stories of fighting and other bullshit: Selected Poems, 1992–2000'' (Вибрані поезії), 2000. * ''Ballads about War and Reconstruction'' (Балади про війну і відбудову), 2001. * ''The History of Culture at the Beginning of This Century'' (Історія культури початку століття), (2003) * ''UkSSR'' (У.Р.С.Р.), 2004. * ''Maradona'' (Марадона), 2007. * ''Ethiopia'' (Ефіопія), 2009. * ''Lili Marlene'' (Лілі Марлен), 2009. * ''Fire Arms and Knives'' (Вогнепальні й ножові), 2012. * ''Life of Maria'' (Життя Марії), 2015. * ''Templars'' (Тамплієри), 2016. * ''Antenna'' (Aнтена), 2018. * ''List of Ships'' (Список кораблів), 2019. * ''Psalm to Aviation'' (Псалом авіації), 2021. * ''What We Live For, What We Die For: Selected Poems'' (a selection of Zhadan's work translated into English), 2019. * ''How Fire Descends: New and Selected Poems'' (a selection of poems by Serhiy Zhadan, translated into English), 2023.

Prose

* ''Big Mac'' (Біґ Мак; short story collection), 2003. * ''Depeche Mode'' (Депеш Мод), 2004; Glagoslav Publications Limited, 2013, * ''Anarchy in the UKR'', 2005. * ''Anthem of Democratic Youth'' (Гімн демократичної молоді), 2006. * ''Big Mac²'' (Біґ Мак²; short story collection), 2007. * ''

'' (Ворошиловград), 2010; Deep Vellum Publishing, 2016, . * ''Big Mac and Other Stories'' (Біґ Мак та інші історії), 2011. * ''Mesopotamia'' (Месопотамія; nine stories and thirty poems), 2014. * ''The Orphanage'' (Інтернат), 2017.

Compilations

* ''Capital'' (Капітал), 2006 — includes everything but ''The History of Culture at the Beginning of the Century'', ''Big Mac'', and ''Maradona''.

Anthologized poetry

* ''Stanislav+2'' (Станислав+2), 2001. * ''Ch-Time'' ''– Verses on Chechnya and Not Only'' (Время `Ч`. Стихи о Чечне и не только), 2001. * ''We Will Not Die in Paris'' (Мы умрем не в Париже), 2002. * ''The History of Culture'' (История культуры), 2004. * ''The UnKnown Ukraine'' (НеИзвестная Украина), 2005.

Awards

Jan Michalski Prize for Literature Jan Michalski Prize for Literature (French: Prix Jan Michalski) is a Swiss literary prize for any work of fiction or non-fiction published anywhere in the world in any language. It is meant to recognize authors from around the world and world liter ...

, awarded in 2014 for ''Voroshylovhrad'' * BBC Ukrainian's Book of the Decade award in December 2014 for ''Voroshylovhrad'' *

Angelus Award The Angelus Central European Literature Award also known as Angelus Award () is a Polish international literary award established in 2006 and presented by the city of Wrocław, Lower Silesia. The award is given annually for best prose books writ ...

(2015), for his book ''Mesopotamia'', translated to Polish by Michał Petryk and Adam Pomorski * EBRD Literature Prize (2022), for his book ''The Orphanage'', translated to English by Reilly Costigan-Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler *

Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels is an international peace prize awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (), which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony is held in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. The prize has been awarded since 1950. The re ...

(2022).

References

External links

The Bard of Eastern Ukraine, Where Things Are Falling Apart

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

Marci Shore Marci Shore (born 1972) is an American professor of intellectual history at the University of Toronto, where she specializes in the history of literary and political engagement with Marxism and phenomenology. Shore is the author of ''Caviar and ...

. 2016.
The Abuse of Ukraine's Best-Known Poet

. Sally McGrane. 2014.
The Word in a Time of War

. Mayhill Fowler on Serhiy Zhadan.
Ukraine's Mesopotamia
LRB Blog. Peter Pomerantsev.
In Transcarpathia
LRB Blog. Peter Pomerantsev.
Crimean Dreams
LRB Blog Peter Pomerantsev.
Website celebrity-birthdays.com about Serhiy Zhadan

Born in 1974 and 1984, Torn in 2004 and 2014...

World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' (''WLT'') is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The magazine's stated goal is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book ...

. Jutta Lindekugel. 2014.
Encyclopedia of modern Ukraine about Serhiy Zhadan, v.9
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhadan, Serhiy 1974 births Living people People from Starobilsk 20th-century Ukrainian poets Ukrainian novelists Ukrainian translators Translators from Russian Translators from German Translators from English Translators from Belarusian Translators to Ukrainian People of the Orange Revolution People of the Euromaidan 21st-century translators 21st-century Ukrainian poets Ukrainian male poets Ukrainian male writers Ukrainian science fiction writers Military personnel from Kharkiv Ukrainian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine