(NOT) ABOUT WAR

Zhenya Berezhnaya

On February 24, 2022, Ukrainian Zhenya Berezhnaya woke up to a call from her relatives in Kharkiv: war had begun. Her familiar life in beloved Kyiv, where Zhenya wrote fairy tales for adults, taught, and hosted a podcast about literature, was over. Sirens and nights spent in basements, evacuation, fleeing, the loss of a loved one, attempts to rebuild her life in a new country — all this is described in Berezhnaya's autobiographical novel (Not) About War. This book is not really about war — it is about the experience of overcoming trauma, about how, thanks to creativity and the support of caring people, there is a place for freedom, love, and hope in a terrible reality.

— Riga: Medusa Publishing House, 2024. — 268 p.

ISBN 978–9934–9216–8–1

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Autor

Женя Бережная

Zhenya Berezhnaya

Finalist on the shortlist for the Dar 2026 Prize. Ukrainian writer, podcaster, and PEN Center Germany scholarship recipient.

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