Odessa-based writers Genova and Kazanzhi presented stories of children living under occupation and poetry about women

On September 19, two meetings with writers Yevgeniya Genova and Zoya Kazanzhy took place at the Ukrainian Theater on Pastera Street in Odesa. The event was part of the International Literary Festival.

A photojournalist from Intent attended the event.

What is Yevgeniya Genova’s book about?

Genova presented her book *They Chose Ukraine*—a nonfiction collection of real stories about young people who, as children, found themselves under Russian occupation or were deported but managed to return to Ukraine.

According to the author, the most attention was focused on this new book, which tells the stories of 16 teenagers and young adults who survived deportation or occupation and returned home—excluding those who were killed or tortured by Russian occupiers.

Yevheniia Genova explained that the appeal to an international audience was intended to explain to partners why it is important not to waste time while the occupation continues: The occupiers are deliberately trying to assimilate children from the occupied territories, forcing them to forget their roots through indoctrination.

“We may end up with hundreds of thousands of young people who, in the very near future, may begin—and are already beginning—to join the ranks of the Russian army, precisely because they are subjected to this violent, assimilationist influence by the Russian state,” the writer noted.

What Zoya Kazanzhy Read

Kazanzhy read poetry from the collection *Marta and Other Women*—about women who find superhuman resilience within themselves, who save, support, remember, and love, even when their wings are scorched by war.

According to the writer, this was less of a book presentation and more of a conversation about sensations, feelings, people, and everything that happens during wartime, since she hasn’t published a new book in the last two years.

Zoya Kazanzhy. PHOTO: Intent

She explained that the events are taking place as part of the 11th International Literary Festival, whose frontwoman is Svitlana Bondar. It is thanks to her persistence that in-person meetings were organized in Odesa, even though the festival’s main events were moved to Chisinau due to security concerns.

“I’m all for any kind of initiative, for anything that allows us to feel each other’s warmth, to hug one another, to listen. Perhaps people often come—sometimes just to hear a single phrase that becomes important to them,” the writer concluded.

Ірина Глухова