I'm transforming... Occupation Diary. Selected Poems

The diary of Volodymyr Vakulenko-K. is the painful and true records that the writer kept from the beginning of the full-scale invasion and during the occupation of Izium and his native village of Kapytolivka in Kharkiv Oblast. Until the abduction by the rashists, the inevitability of which he was aware, as well as the fact that he had little chance of survival - because he is Ukrainian, because he is a volunteer and activist, and because he has dignity. The day before the abduction, Volodymyr hid the diary under a cherry tree in his yard, telling his father: "When ours come, give it to them."

What is it like to live under occupation? What do people become? What opens before the eyes and in the heart?

And today, on Poetry Day, I was greeted by a small cranberry key in the sky, and through their "chirps" it seemed to be heard: "Everything will be Ukraine! I believe in victory!" Volodymyr Vakulenko-K.

The book includes the texts of the occupation diary, selected poetry of Volodymyr Vakulenko-K. for children and adults, as well as stories from friends, colleagues, and eyewitnesses, which will dive into the chronicle of the first months of russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

Series "Ukrainian PEN Library"
The publication was carried out with the support of the International Foundation "Renaissance"

The publication uses photos of Victoria Amelina, Vladyslav Krasnoshchok, Leonid Lohvynenko, Maksym Sytnikov, "Kharkiv Literary Museum" and from the archive of the Vakulenko family.