Let’s Meet in the Workshop. Tetiana Zhydak

“Let’s Meet in the Workshop” is an auto-fiction story about a year of life after the start of a full-scale invasion. The author, together with her little daughter, returns to her native village in Pokuttia — to her home, family stories, and community, which unexpectedly become a place of stability and mutual support for her. Every day she comes to the old sewing workshop, where, among the hum of machines, the noise of a heating fan, news from the front, quiet silences, and women’s laughter that breaks out despite everything, funny and not-so-funny stories are born. And behind them are revelations, trust, and what helps to survive today.

This book is not about war as an event, but about life in war — about a time when the familiar world is crumbling, and decisions have to be made without certainty that they are the right ones, about fatigue and fear, loss, and the search for answers. The theme of motherhood as a state of additional responsibility and vulnerability is important. The text intertwines modernity and family memory, personal experiences and collective experience.

The story is written in authentic Pokuttia dialect and sounds like a conversation — witty, poignant, sometimes painful, but acutely honest. It leaves the reader with a sense of roots under their feet and a quiet understanding: sometimes the most important thing people can say to each other is a simple promise to meet tomorrow. To meet in the workshop.