Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
My Grandfather Was the Best Dancer
by Kateryna Babkina
Description
“My Grandfather Was the Best Dancer” is a series of short stories following the family histories of five protagonists who met on their first day of school in the first year of Ukraine’s independence and became lifelong friends. These family histories take the reader through the events of the 1920s in Kharkiv, the repression of the Les Kurbas Theater during the Great Terror, the Holodomor (the man-made genocidal famine of 1932–33), World War II, the 1990s, several waves of emigration and the war in Donbas. First and foremost, this is a book about accepting the past. It describes how events and circumstances affect us, whether consciously or unconsciously. It addresses continuity and ties between generations, yearning for love and acceptance, and loneliness as the product of or reason behind our choices. It deals with losses both conscious and unconscious, justified and pointless. Most importantly, it stresses that no matter how lonely, outcast or broken you feel, you can survive and live because, notwithstanding, there is always a chance to attain happiness at last.
More Information
Rights Information
Foreign rights sold: Polish, Serbian.
Contact: babkina_@ukr.net
Contact of the Ukrainian Book Institute: ubi@ubi.org.ua
Author Biography
Kateryna Babkina is one of the brightest stars of modern Ukrainian literature, a renowned writer, columnist, journalist and screenwriter born in 1985. She is the author of poetry collections (Lights of Saint Elm, 2002, The Mustard, 2011, Painkillers and Sleeping pills, 2014, Charmed for Love, 2017, Does not hurt, 2021), a novel (Sonia, 2013), a novel in short stories (My Grandfather Was the Best Dancer, 2019) and two collections of stories (Lilu after you, 2008 and Happy naked people, 2016), and children’s books (The Pumpkin year, The Hat and the Whale, Girls Power (co-authored with Mark Livin) and Snow Warmth). Kateryna graduated from the Institute of Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv in 2006. She is a regular contributor to both Ukrainian and foreign publications such as Esquire Ukraine, Focus, Business, Le Monde, Art Ukraine, Harper’s Bazaar, The Insider, Platforma, and Buro 24/7. In 2021 Kateryna Babkina won the Angelus Central European Literature Award for the My Grandfather Was the Best Dancer published in the Polish language.
Trusted Partner
Bibliographic Information
- Publisher Komora Publishing House
- Publication Date 2019
- Orginal LanguageUkrainian
- ISBN/Identifier 9786177286461
- Publication Country or regionUkraine
- Pages144
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusPublished
- Original Language TitleМій дід танцював краще за всіх
- Original Language AuthorsБабкіна Катерина
