Borys Khersonsky is one of Ukraine's leading Russian-speaking poets, winner of numerous international awards. In recent years Khersonsky has written not only in Russian language but also in Ukrainian language as well translated his Russian-language poems into Ukrainian. The collection "There was no Stalin" includes both new poems written in Ukrainian and self-translations from Russian poems made in 2016 and 2017. The themes and stylistics of the poems are typical for the author - surrealist attempts to comprehend the history of totalitarianism, "biographical lyrics", essays on the life in the 50s and 60s of the 20s century. The poems are intertwined with the parallels made to the Middle Ages and biblical motifs. The attentive reader will also find reviews of classical examples of Ukrainian poetry.