Translating War: Poems from Ukraine

Date: 12 November 2025, 7:00 pm
Location: Literaturhaus Oberpfalz, Rosenberger Straße 9, 92237 Sulzbach-Rosenberg
Speakers: Claudia Dathe, Christine Hamel
Organizer: Literaturhaus Oberpfalz
Language: German

As part of the series Lyrik-Empfehlungen 2025

Together with Tania Rodionova and Asmus Trautsch, the translator Claudia Dathe published the anthology Den Krieg übersetzen. Gedichte aus der Ukraine (edition.fotoTAPETA) in 2025.

The volume opens with a poem by Victoria Amelina. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022, Amelina, according to PEN Ukraine, was involved in documenting Russian war crimes in the occupied territories. In July 2023, she was killed in a Russian missile attack on the city of Kramatorsk.

The title of the anthology refers both to the translation of war into language, into poetry, and to the translation of Ukrainian poems into German. It brings together poems by sixteen authors - a small selection from contemporary Ukrainian poetic production, which continues despite the ongoing war.

Also included in the 2025 recommendations list is Serhij Zhadan’s volume Chronik des eigenen Atems. 50 und 1 Gedicht, also translated by Claudia Dathe, who has translated many of his works. Zhadan lives in Kharkiv and has been serving as a soldier since May 2024. He is regarded as one of the key voices of the contemporary cultural scene in the city.

Both books appear on the Lyrik-Empfehlungen 2025 list.

The event will be moderated by Christine Hamel, a radio journalist who has been reporting on Ukraine and Russia for many years.

The evening also accompanies the special exhibition Welt aus Sprachen. Literatur übersetzen, which will be open before the event from 6:30 pm.

Admission: €10 / reduced €7; advance booking: nt-ticket.de;  remaining tickets available at the venue.

More information is available here.