Review: We Stand with Ukraine: An Anthology of Poetry, Prose and Protest
We Stand with Ukraine: An Anthology of Poetry, Prose and Protest, edited by John Farrelly, Helen Dwyer and Julian Vignoles. Mercier Press, 2023. €14.95, 126 pages.
“I recommend this anthology to anyone interested in or concerned about democracy, justice and the right to demonstrate and protest.”
Larysa Gerasko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Ireland.
We Stand with Ukraine: An Anthology of Poetry, Prose and Protest is an exceptional compilation of essays, poems and prose that reflects the strength, courage and determination of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s brutal invasion. This collection, written by thirty-four front-line protestors at the Russian Embassy in Dublin, captures the essence of Ukrainian pride and spirit through a diverse range of voices, such as public servants, students, and residents of the area. Alongside a foreword by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko, this anthology also provides pictures of the protests, documented by Declan Reid. Each work offers a comprehensive exploration of the emotions, experiences and reflections that followed the invasion. All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Ukrainian Action, a not-for-profit organisation in Ireland that aims to help Ukrainians in need and fosters Irish-Ukrainian friendship.
The message that is expressed by the anthology is very clear: unwavering support for Ukraine, which is still being expressed a year after the invasion. It also suggests the message that if one was to be mute in the face of the brutality and war crimes committed by Russia, Ukraine would cease to exist, ultimately resulting in the demise of democracy in Europe. As a first-generation Ukrainian individual in Ireland, I found that each work provided a powerful account of the anger and determination of the protestors to end the war.
Out of all the works in the anthology, two in particular stand out to me the most. The first is a prose piece titled ‘It Affects Me’, by Declan, a retired company manager. In this piece, he cites examples of Russian brutality against Ukrainian people, and how it is shown on his television screen. He includes examples such as the Russian soldiers shooting families running away from the shelling in Irpin, the mass massacre of civilians in Bucha and women lined up to board the trains to Poland. In between these paragraphs, he writes ‘it affects me’, which makes the reader come to a realisation that what is happening not only affects Ukrainians, but an ordinary person living in Ireland, like Declan. This piece is not just only a retelling of the ethnic cleansing of my people and the systemic violence that is repeated daily by Russian forces, but this piece reinforces the fact that this is the truth, and that this is the reality that Ukrainians are facing every day.
The second piece that struck me was a poem titled ‘Easter 2022: Russian Embassy Staff Seek Some Heat’, written by John, who is a retired community worker. Out of all the pieces in this anthology, this one struck a nerve with me, as it released the emotions and the pain that I have felt over the last year. The poem was written in response to the staff working at the Russian Embassy after they made a series of complaints about the cold, when there was a lack of oil in the central heating system. Instead of heating the staff with oil, John proposes that the staff should ‘heat themselves’ by the various crimes that their country has committed. Out of the forty-five lines, with a very slight pattern of rhyme, that make this poem, certain ones stood out to me the most:
Heat yourselves by the fanned fires of Bucha, Kharkiv, and Kherson
Heat yourselves by the cremated bodies of Mariupol’s innocent civilians…
Heat yourselves by grasping the sunflower’s bright and radiant hue
Heat yourselves by the heroics of an independent Ukrainian people
This poem evokes a certain emotion within the reader, posing the questions of why the staff are complaining, as they continue to work for a government that is the cause of such monstrosity. The final nine lines of the poem, change to the word ‘hate’ – ‘Hate yourselves for the hellish Holocaust that you have commenced / Hate yourselves for the dystopia you have so coldly advanced.’ John’s poem not only projects the ‘heat’ of the anger that every single person is projecting onto the Russian government and forces for starting this war, but also how this ‘heat’ should turn into an element of ‘hate’ for what they have done and what they are continuing to do to the Ukrainians at present.
We Stand with Ukraine: An Anthology of Poetry, Prose and Protest is a piece of literature that bears a paramount importance today, despite the fact that a lot of Irish media services do not broadcast the current events that are taking place in Ukraine. As I write this, there are multiple atrocities being committed, such as the Russian forces’ destruction of the Nova Kahkhova dam in Kherson, resulting in widespread ecocide and flooding across Southern Ukraine, listed as the ‘worst natural disaster in Ukraine since Chernobyl’, as well as the discovery that multiple towns, like Mari’inka and Severodonetsk, have been completely destroyed and devastated by the Russians, with little to no people there anymore.
We only need to look at Tymofi Shadura, a Ukrainian soldier, who was held in captivity by the Russians, and had his murder filmed after he recited the very phrase we all have come to know – ‘Slava Ukraina’.
This book brings a lot of hope to Ukrainians in Ireland today, especially for me, as it confirms that there is still support for my family from the Irish people. This anthology is a must-read for activists on the Ukrainian cause, anyone interested in the power of literature and first-hand accounts to effect and restore peace, and anyone who is seeking to learn more and educate themselves on Ukraine’s struggle for freedom, and to find inspiration from the people who started that wave of change.
Слава Україні! Героям слава!
