outreach

Russia's war against ukraine:
TV Commentary

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, I have been regularly speaking to the media about Ukrainian resistance. My media appearances include interviews for NTD, HRT, Al Jazeera English, BBC News, and CNN, including: 

Russia's war against Ukraine: Radio & Podcasts

Ukrainian Events in London

Serhiy Zhadan at the UIL:
in conversation

Serhiy Zhadan’s works have given a voice to the generation of Ukrainians who came of age in independent Ukraine, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. I moderated his literary event in London, organised by the UIL. 

Olena Stiazhkina at UCL SSEES: in conversation

My discussion of language and war in Ukraine with Ukrainian writer Olena Stiazhkina at UCL SSEES was moderated by Uilleam Blacker. Watch the recording here.

Russia's Ecocide in Ukraine

Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant has changed the landscape of southern Ukraine, brought unprecedented environmental damage to the Black Sea region, and will have lasting global repercussions. In response, I organised and moderated a panel discussion with Anna Ackermann, Olia Hercules, Darya Tsymbalyuk, and Jonathon Turnbull at UCL SSEES in partnership with the UIL.

Decolonising Western Coverage of Ukraine: Terrell Jermaine Starr

I organised and chaired a discussion on the decolonisation of western reporting on Ukraine with the independent journalist and Atlantic Council fellow Terrell Jermaine Starr. Watch it here.

Ukraine's Victory in Russia's War: The Role of the United Kingdom

I organised a panel discussion with panel discussion with Dr Hanna Hopko, Olga Aivazovska, Olena Halushka, Tetyana Teren, moderated by Olga Tokariuk. Watch the recording here.

Writing in Times of War: Irena Karpa and Kateryna Babkina

I moderated evenings with Ukrainian writers Kateryna Babkina and Irena Karpa at the UIL in November and March 2023. Conversations ranged from the language of violence to volunteering and writing in exile. 

Invited speaker: academic events

Talking about Ukraine: Encounters and Challenges (University of Warwick)

I was invited to speak at the public event The Framing of the Russian Attack on Ukraine of the Ukrainian Summer School with students from Ukrainian Catholic University (11-25 June 2023) at the University of Warwick. The recording is available here. 

Rethinking Slavonic Studies: Ukrainian Cassandras (University of Cambridge)

I was honoured to participate in the timely Rethinking Slavonic Studies lecture series at Cambridge on 10 November 2022. In a lecture titled Ukrainian Cassandras, I spoke about Ukrainian prophets, witnesses, and killjoys. 

War and New (professional) Challenges: Practical Workshop for Fixers 

After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, some of our acquaintances went to the front or to volunteer, some were forced to leave Ukraine, some - to learn new professions. The influx of foreign media into Ukraine has created a demand for fixers - local producers, translators, organizers and psychotherapists in one bottle, helping international reporters to cover the war in Ukraine. Sasha Dovzhik and Maryana Matveychuk will share their experience of fixing and talk about the main challenges of this work. Watch here.

'Who told you that I might be Weak?': The Stories of Ukrainian resistance

The Kremlin anticipated Ukraine to be defeated in a matter of two days. Western pundits largely agreed. Ukrainians have surprised both the outsiders and themselves by successfully fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion for two months. This experience has helped to transform the prevalent cultural narrative of Ukrainian victimhood into that of defiance. Drawing on Ukrainian literary history and my experience within the volunteer movement in Lviv, I discussed the civic response to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Ukrainian resistance strategies with Dr Olesya Khromeychuk and Anna Dovgopol at this Ukrainian Institute London's event. Watch the recording here.

Ukrainian Cassandras at Mishkenot 

I was honoured to speak at the Literature Vision on Ukraine event at Mishkenot, Jerusalem, about Lesia Ukrainka, her anticolonial resistance, its relevance at the time of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine, and what it means to be a Ukrainian Cassandra. My talk starts at 37:50. The following discussion with other speakers is insightful.

The Unknown Feminist of Fin-de-siècle Europe: Lesia Ukrainka

I was honoured to speak at the landmark event organised by the Ukrainian Institute London at the British Library and to discuss Lesia Ukrainka's work and legacy with the iconic Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko and the University of Cambridge Professor Lucy Delap.

Lesia Ukrainka: Fin-de-siècle Ukrainian Feminism

I feature as an expert on the pioneering Ukrainian modernist and feminist Lesia Ukrainka in the short film produced by the Ukrainian Institute in London within the series 10 Things Everyone Should Know about Ukraine (supported by the Lysiak-Rudnytsky Programme).

ab 2020: the Aubrey Beardsley Society

I have created AB 2020: The Aubrey Beardsley Society, supported by the Alessandra Wilson Fund. It presents a hybrid of a digital humanities project, an online publication platform, and an exercise in community building. 

I curate the digital archive of open-access primary and secondary sources on Aubrey Beardsley (AB Library) while also commissioning scholarly and creative pieces for the Society's publication platform (AB Blog).

I keep the community of scholars and amateurs engaged through a variety of initiatives, including the Emerging Beardsley Scholar Prize, Artist in Residence programme, and a monthly newsletter. The Society's Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube keep the Beardsley Craze ablaze! 

ABIRTHDAY: Aubrey Beardsley turns 149

On 21 August 2021, Beardsley turned 149 years old while the Aubrey Beardsley Society celebrated its first year. Two Beardsleyites extraordinaire, Professor Margaret Stetz and Dr Kate Hext, helped us mark the occasion by speaking on the topics of utmost decadent interest. The event was organised by the Aubrey Beardsley Society in association with the British Association of Decadence Studies and Birkbeck Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies. Watch the recording here.

Birkbeck Arts Week 2021

Part of the annual Birkbeck School of Art festival, my talk explains how fin-de-siècle poet Lesia Ukrainka dismantled the canon of patriarchy in her treatment of the foundational myths of European culture. I also explore this topic in my LARB article.

Nasha Kasha: Lesya Ukrainka

Nasha Kasha is a weekly radio program about Ukrainian life broadcasting from Ontario, Canada. I gave a short talk on the writer Lesya Ukrainka for the show dedicated to her 150th anniversary on 21 February 2021 (you can hear me speak from 15:50).

MOLODYI TEATR LONDON

I read Lesia Ukrainka's poem ‘Who told you that I might be weak?‘ (translated by Olesya Khromeychuk) for the Lockdown Theatre of Molodyi Teatr London, 2021.

'Queer Lit' on Alphabet Radio

I spoke about Aubrey Beardsley's decadent and queer sensibility in Dr Golnoosh Nour's show Queer Lit on 1 July 2020.

Talk at Tate Britain

I was invited by the co-curator of the Aubrey Beardsley exhibition Caroline Corbeau-Parsons to give a talk on Beardsley's Messalina for the Scholars' Morning event (6 March 2020).

London 19C Studies Seminar

My invited talk on Aubrey Beardsley's legacies in Eastern Europe opened the 2020-21 series of the London Nineteenth-Century Studies Seminars (1 October).

Interview for the independent

I was interviewed by the British newspaper Independent about my research on Beardsley for the article ‘The Short and Salacious Story of Aubrey Beardsley’. 

invited speaker and Moderator 

Activism before the full-scale invasion

During 2018-2019, I was the coordinator of the London branch of the global campaign Prisoners' Voice which advocates for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners unlawfully jailed in Russia and the Russia-occupied Crimea. My role involved recruiting volunteers, organising demonstrations, liaising with Met Police, appointing stewards, inviting speakers, and raising public awareness through social media. In addition, I have run several screenings and training days for community members, including workshops on writing letters to political prisoners. As part of this campaign, I have partnered with NGOs and cultural centres such as English PEN, Amnesty International, Cambridge Ukrainian Studies, School of Slavonic and East-European Studies, Molodyi Teatr London, British-Ukrainian Aid, Ukrainian Institute in London, and Embassy of Ukraine to the UK.