K2 Literary
A literary agency in Toronto, Canada, representing authors and rights sales for several independent Canadian publishers.
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BookEnds Literary
Since opening its doors in 1999, BookEnds Literary Agency has never strayed from our original goal: Achieving dreams and doing what we love. Representing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children alike, BookEnds agents continue to live their dreams while helping authors achieve theirs.
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Promoted Content
Humanities & Social Sciences2019Frontier Identity: Odesa in 20th century
by Yaroslav Polishchuk
Flipping through the pages of the cultural history of Odesa in the 20th century, the author of the book analyses the frontier identity that developed in this peculiar city. In the first part of the book, the general processes that determined the cultural face of Odesa are analysed, in the second, portraits of prominent artists are presented - Volodymyr Zhabotynskyi, Petro Leshchenko, Mykhailo Zhuk, Boris Necherda, Boris Khersonskyi. Each of them in their own way embodied the image of the beach and sea city in its changing identity and constant charm. And if the above personalities are forgotten today, then we have a good opportunity to get to know and appreciate them more deeply, at the same time rethinking the phenomenon of Odesa in the 20th century.
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Promoted Content
Biography & True Stories2017Open My Lips, O Lord
by Yosyf Zisels, Izabella Khruslinska
In conversations with the famous Polish journalist Iza Khruslinska, Yosyf Zisels talks about his life path, the struggle for human rights in the USSR, the restoration of Jewish communities in independent Ukraine, Ukrainian-Jewish relations, problems of recent history and modern politics.
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Trusted Partner
Literature & Literary Studies2019The First Page of Winter
by Iia Kiva
"The First Page of Winter" is a collection of poetry by Iia Kiva, which includes poems composed from 2015 till 2019. The main theme is language and the inability to speak, the search for identity and historical memory, the understanding of great history and private stories inscribed in it, the war and traumatic experiences, about rooting and mapping. And in general - about a person in turbulent times and the search for words to understand what is happening, has happened and will happen. The poetry collection "The First Page of Winter", received a special award from the jury of the "ЛітАкцент-2019" (LitAccent-2019) literary award, and was included in the list of the best books of 2019 according to PEN Ukraine.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social Sciences2018Flowing ideologies. Ideas and politics in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries
by Volodymyr Yermolenko
"Flowing Ideologies" is a detailed and unexpected history of ideas in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. The book is about how the concepts and metaphors born in the era of the French Revolution continued to live in the totalitarian ideologies of the 20th century, how the concepts of going through death, the holy criminal, the victim-messiah, the renewing catastrophe feed the history of the last two centuries, inspiring ideological allies and antipodes. It is also a detailed and ruthless analysis of the main ideological monsters of our time: racism, communism, Nazism, fascism, and their mixtures. The book is written on the crossroad of different disciplines: philosophy, history of ideas, political science and history of literature.
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Trusted Partner
True stories2019Vasyl Stus. Life as Art
by Dmytro Stus
No one knows what the mystery of fame is. It often happens that someone who was in the epicenter of events all his life is forgotten immediately after death. Vasyl Stus became widely known after his reburial in 1989. What is the reason for this: poetic creativity? heroic life? irreconcilable position? the ability to care about someone else's pain? The poet's son, Dmytro, tries to find answers to these and many other questions, skillfully combining verified biographical information about the life of Vasyl Stus with his own memories and observations about his father. The litetary style of Dmytro's writing is very peculiar. He juxtaposes conflicting contexts, and combines academic and fictional styles of writing. The book is about the poet and dissident Vasyl Stus through the eyes of a researcher and a son. It is intended for a wide range of readers: from students to academicians.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social Sciences2018Conversations about Ukraine
by Yaroslav Hrytsak, Izabella Khruslinska
This is the third book in a series of conversations between Iza Khruslinska and Ukrainian intellectuals. The first two books were with Oksana Zabuzhko and Yosyf Zisels. The one with Yaroslav Hrytsak, although, is chronologically the first book. It was first published in Polish language in 2009. The main topic of the conversation with Yaroslav Hrytsak is the suitability of history for understanding what is going on in Ukraine in recent decades. Special emphasis is placed on Ukraine's relations with its historical neighbors – Poles and Russians, as well as Ukrainian-Jewish relations. But first of all, it is about the historical dimension of the current problems and challenges that Ukraine is facing - and to what extent knowledge of history makes it possible to understand future development scenarios. Since the Polish edition was published almost ten years ago, many things in this book have been rethought and rewritten, in particular, a new chapter has appeared on the development of events over the most recent decade.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social Sciences2020What Will Give Us Strength
by Tetiana Teren (compiler)
What gives us strength? To us as individuals, to our families, to the country, to the world? Each of us has his own source of inspiration. But what to do if it does not always work? Then we are looking for the strength in others, for their advice and support, for their way of keeping strong in challenging times. In 2019-2020, Ukrainians needed additional sources of strength, because war, uncertainty, political populism, and pandemic created additional stress. During those years twenty-five leading Ukrainian intellectuals reflected on their sources of their resilience in the publication "What will give us strength?". Collected under one cover, twenty five essays discuss a difficult period of challenges in the life of each author individually as well as Ukraine in general. The answers offered by the authors will become a valuable guide for the reader, a model of motivation, an advice to hold on to.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social Sciences2020Do Not be Afraid. About life, death and everything in between
by Anastaiia Leukhina
What to do if someone close to you has an incurable disease? Where to run, where to seek support, how to behave with a sick person? This book contains practical recommendations that provide answers to these and other difficult questions. The book is written is a friendly, simple language, with the knowledge of the Ukrainian medical and social realities, sometimes with humor. It contains sincere and poignant stories of real people who share their own experiences in similar situations, showing that even illness and death will not seem so terrible if you approach them consciously and with love.
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Trusted Partner
Biography: general2019The Fascinating Energy: Mykhailo Drahomanov
by Leonid Ushkalov
This book is based on numerous source texts. Leonid Ushkalov presents the biography of Ukrainian publicist, scientist and public figure Mykhailo Drahomanov (1841-1895). The author symbolically divided the biography into fifty-four paragraphs and tried, in his own words, "as much as it is possible, to show Drahomanov's life not only in black and white, but rich in colors, just as a life really is." He tells about the everyday life of his hero and tries to show the inside of the world of his ideas. However, the author is convinced that the "main plot" of Drahomanov's life can be imagined in different ways.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social Sciences2020Zero Point Ukraine
by Olena Stiazhkina
The Western understanding of what happened in Ukraine during World War II has been shaped by historical and ideological narratives created by the Kremlin. The Ukrainian version of the story has been dissolved in the concept of the “great victorious Russian people” and distorted by attempts to equate Ukrainian national army to German Nazis, while the occupation and colonisation of Ukraine by Russian Bolsheviks in the 1920s and 1930s has widely been ignored or artificially silenced. In her Four Essays on World War II, Olena Stiazhkina inscribes the Ukrainian history of the war into a wider European and world context. Amongst other aspects, she analyzes the mobilization measures on the eve of the war, thus questioning Soviet narratives. Scrutinising the social and political processes initiated by the Bolshevik leadership in the 1920s and 1930s, Stiazhkina concludes that mobilisation and militarisation were integral parts of Soviet power policy. The Soviet and contemporary Russian narratives about World War II have been used to justify the Kremlin’s policies towards democratic countries. Today, Russia remains deeply engaged in the falsification of the past, which underpins the claims of the so-called “Russian World” and the ongoing war against Ukraine. Olena Stiazhkina’s book promotes a new, historically adequate understanding of what happened in Ukraine before, during, and after World War II.
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Trusted Partner
Travel & Transport2021Jewish addresses of Ukraine. Guidebook.
by Marharyta Yehorchenko, Iryna Berliand, Ihor Vynokurov (compilers)
This guidebook leads you through the locations in cities and villages of Ukraine that are closely connected to the history and culture of Ukrainian Jewish Community. The book is based on the geographical principle, i.e. each chapter describes a particular region of Ukraine. The illustrative material allows us to see both cultural monuments that still exist as well as photos of the objects that have not survived. Special attention is paid to personalities, including Jewish writers, cultural activists, civil rights leaders, philanthropists, religious figures, and righteous men. The guidebook can be especially useful for tourists who are interested in the Jewish history of the country.
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Trusted Partner
Historical fiction2017The Voices of Babyn Yar
by Marianna Kiyanovska
The poems in The Voices of Babyn Yar convey the experiences and emotions of ordinary people going through the tragic events of Babyn Yar massacre in Kyiv. Conceived as a tribute to the dead, the book raises difficult questions about memory, responsibility, and commemoration of those who had witnessed the horrors of human suffering. The book is illustrated by sketches of the Ukrainian artists Ada Rybachuk and Volodymyr Melnychenko. The same sketches were used for the construction of the monument commemorating the victims of Babyn Yar. The works of the artist Zinoviy Tolkachov "Talescoten", series "Majdanek", 1944, as well as a photo of Dmytro Peysakhov from the series "Babyn Yar" are also used in the publication.
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Trusted Partner
Biography: general2020Paul Celan. References
by Petro Rykhlo
The book contains articles and essays describing the life of the outstanding German-speaking poet of the 20th century, a native of Chernivtsi, Paul Celan. The book explores his Bukovinian roots (Bukovyna is a historical region located both in Ukraine and Romania), little-known pages of his biography, connections with the Slavic and Jewish groups, personal and creative contacts with such authors as Alfred Margul-Sperber, Ingeborg Bachmann, Bertolt Brecht. The reader will also take a note on the role and significance of music in Celan’s works. The book is published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the poet's birth and 50th anniversary of his death. The publication is intended for literary critics, philosophers, cultural experts and anyone interested in the history of development of the 20th century German lyrics.
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Trusted Partner
The Arts2020Knights of the Famished Renaissance
by Dmytro Horbachov
The phenomenon of the Ukrainian avant-garde was first revealed to the Western world in 1973 at the "Tatlin's dream" London exhibition where for the first time, world-class paintings by little known Ukrainian avant-garde artists Vasyl Yermylov and Oleksandr Bohomazov were exhibited. This famous show raised awareness also of other world-famous masters who, by origin, upbringing, self identification, and national traditions were associated with Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Odesa. Apart from the above-mentioned artists, the book mentions “the most faithful son of Ukraine” Davyd Burliuk, as well as Kazymyr Malevych, a Pole who considered himself Ukrainian; Volodymyr Tatlin, a professor of Kyiv Art Institute and bandura player; Oleksandra Ekster, a founder of the Ukrainian school of constructivist scenography; artists of the "Culture League"; Oleksandr Arkhypenko, a phenomenal sculptor. Supplemented with extensive cultural studies and personal memories of the author, the book is designed to present the reader with a complete picture of the origins and formation of the Ukrainian artistic avant-garde. Compiled by Oleksiy Sinchenko.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social Sciences2020MAGISTRA VITAE. Conversations about history with Serhii Plokhy
by Serhii Plokhy
The lessons of history that we still need to learn are the main topic of a collection of interviews with the prominent Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy. The interviews were given by Plokhy to the leading journalists and scholars of Ukraine and are not only a look at history through the eyes of the present, but also a look at the present through the eyes of the past, a fascinating journey behind the scenes of history books that became bestsellers in Ukraine and abroad. Plokhy also brings a personal perspective to the historical events as a person not only describing them but also living through them.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social Sciences2019Historical Essays. Volume 1
by Ivan Lysiak-Rudnytskyi
The first volume of "Historical Essays" includes works on methodological issues of medieval and early modern history of Ukraine, intellectual history, as well as Ukrainian-Russian, Ukrainian-Polish and Ukrainian - Jewish relations over the centuries. A special place in the book is occupied by studies devoted to the analysis of the concepts of Ukrainian political thinkers of the era of the "national revival" of the 19th century.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social Sciences2021Taste of the Soviet Union: Food and Eaters in the Art of Life and the Art of Cinema (mid-1960s - mid-1980s)
by Olena Stiazhkina
This book is about Soviet people - women, men, children - who ate at home, at work, on the road, in kindergartens and schools, in the system of the Soviet canteens. It describes those who fought for their food in long queues to the empty shops, at collective farm markets, gathered it in their own gardens, obtained it through bribes and barter exchanges and stole it at workplaces. It is about those who created the food surpluses in the system of the shadow economy and about those who refused food as a way of rebellion against the system and about those who managed to preserve national cuisine despite its deliberate extermination by the Bolsheviks and calling national dishes "simple nationalism." Food culture is considered not only as a sign of the late Soviet consumer revolution, but also as one of the powerful mechanisms of social engineering and (self) coercion. The real world of Soviet eaters is analysed together with the artistic world where filmmakers created and broadcasted the images of Soviet food, as an object representing repressive society in which taste was as problematic and almost unattainable as food and freedom associated with taste and choice.
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Trusted Partner
Biography: general2020Shevchenko. Modern biography
by Stanislav Rosovetskyi
When reading this book, Taras Shevchenko's admirers will sincerely empathise with the poet, make unexpected biographical discoveries and enjoy his art and his quirky sense of humour. Non-fans, whose dislike for the Ukrainian genius stems from the Soviet rendering which still dominates the school curricula, have a chance to see a different Shevchenko. The book shows the great poet in situations that destroy his stereotypical image that was cultivated over the years. Last but not least, a thoughtful reader will be able to see that Russia in the times of Nikolas I is not too different from today's Russia and that the challenges Ukrainians faced in the mid-19th century repeat in the 21st century.
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Trusted Partner
Biography: general2021Serhiy Paradzhanov. Bigger than a Legend
by Dziuba Ivan, Dziuba Marta
The book by Ivan and Marta Dzyuba consists of texts (memoir essays, articles and interviews) that comment on the life and work of Serhiy Paradzhanov, one of the most outstanding and original artists of Ukraine and the world. His image is made up of myths and mythologemes, mostly created by Paradzhanov himself. The authors of the book expand this image by supplementing it with details of everyday life, visualisations and conceptual interpretations of the filmmakers’ actions, in both everyday and artistic life. This book also gives the reader an idea of how Parajanov's artistic universe was formed, how he transitioned from a film director who worked with the myths of communist ideology to an artist who spoke the language of national mythologies in avant-garde and surprisingly modern way.
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Trusted Partner
True stories2015Courage and Fear
by Ola Hnatiuk
Courage and Fear is a study of a multicultural city in times of great change. Olya Hnatiuk presents a meticulously documented portrait of Lviv’s ethnically diverse intellectuals during World War II. As the Soviet, Nazi, and once again Soviet occupations tear the city’s social structures apart, groups of Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish doctors, academicians, and artists try to survive, struggling to manage complex relationships and to uphold their ethos. As their pre-war lives are violently upended, courage and fear shape their actions. Olya Hnatiuk employs diverse sources in several languages to tell the story of Lviv from a multi-ethnic perspective and to challenge the nation focused narratives dominant in Central and Eastern Europe.
