From PennSound Daily (written by Michael Hennessey):
We find ourselves in a remarkable moment, with the whole world's attention and sympathies directed towards Ukraine as it endures an unjust invasion by Russian forces. Spurred to action, many events — from teach-ins to benefits to readings — have been organized on short notice to address the crisis. Today we're proud to be able to share video footage from one such event put together at UPenn by Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach and Olga Livshin last week, "Voices for Ukraine: Words Together, Worlds Apart."
"Amid the current catastrophe in Ukraine, a brutal invasion of a sovereign nation, it is more urgent than ever to listen to the voices of its people," Kolchinsky Dasbach an Livshin write. "While media provides overwhelming coverage, literature, poetry, and art are just as important for processing, coping, and surviving trauma," hence they curated this "transatlantic reading spanning from Kyiv, Odesa, and Lviv, to LA, Atlanta, Philly, and Little Rock," which also included "recordings Ukrainian poets have sent in the event they are unable to join [...] live due to internet outages and air raids."
The readers who took part in "Voices for Ukraine: Words Together, Worlds Apart" include (in order) Carolyn Forché, Ilya Kaminsky, Lyudmyla Khersonska, Katie Farris, Boris Khersonsky, Martha M. F. Kelly, Boris Dralyuk, Oksana Maksymchuk, Lyuba Yakimchuk, Amelia Mukamel Glaser, Iya Kiva, Yuliya Ilchuk, Katherine E. Young, Tatiana Filimonova, Ostap Slyvynsky, Yuliya Chernyshova, Danyil Zadorozhnyi, Iryna Shuvalova, Olena Jennings, Ali Kinsella, Dzvinia, Orlowsky, Vasyl Makhno, Oksana Lutsyshyna, Victoria Juharyan, and Joy David. You can watch video footage of the event and learn more about the participants by clicking
here.