“Deoccupation of the future”: friends of the deceased writer Amelina announced a collection for the festival founded by her

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Ukrainian PEN, as well as friends and relatives of the writer Victoria Amelina, who died from injuries received in Kramatorsk, announced a fundraiser for the New York Literary Festival founded by her. Read UP.Kultura in Telegram “Support for Vika’s relatives in this difficult time will be your contribution to the main cause, which she lived for and which must continue – the New York Literary Festival in Donetsk region”, – says the post of the Ukrainian PEN. They reminded that last year the festival could not be held because of the full-scale war. However, Amelina continued to work on cultural and educational initiatives within the framework of the festival. Amelina died of injuries received in Kramatorsk. Photo: PEN Ukraine / Facebook In order to continue the work to which the writer devoted a lot of effort and time, the organization called on Ukrainians to support the New York Literary Festival. With the consent of the family, the project curator of the New York Literary Festival, Olga Rusina, is collecting funds. She told UP.Kultura that currently the purpose of the collection is to support all projects within the framework of the NLF, which were already planned by Victoria Amelina. Victoria Amelina and Olga Rusina. Photo: New York Literary Festival / Facebook “It was important for Vika that, while it is not possible to hold the festival in New York, its initiatives continued and lived outside of New York. It was important for her to support the community of Ukrainian New York.” – says Rusina. According to her, for the writer, the literary festival was not only a local project related to the town in Donetsk region: “It was a broader strategy. That is why a few weeks before the full-scale invasion, in January 2022, an educational trip was held for teenagers from New York to Kyiv and Lviv. This trip was a prize for high school students from New York schools who won the essay contest,” the curator said. Victoria Amelina with her children in Kyiv. Photo: New York Literary Festival / Facebook Rusina added that this year the main project related to the NLF was a summer camp in the Carpathians for young people from Donetsk region, in particular, from New York. Amelina planned it for the end of July – beginning of August. “There will be a camp. It is important for us to hold it this year as Vika wanted and in such a concept and form as she planned it. It is clear that it will be a camp in memory of her, but it is important for us that it takes place in spite of everything.” , – Rusina reported and added that the camp had to be moved to mid-September. She said that the NGO “Initiative Youth of Ukrainian New York” was involved in the organization of the camp together with the NGO “NLF”. The First New York Literary Festival. Photo: New York Literary Festival / Facebook “It is important to us that the help that we can provide in the current conditions is of maximum benefit to the community. For those people who live in New York now or who had to leave New York when Russia started a full-scale war,” Rusina emphasized. As for the festival itself, it is not yet possible to hold it in Donetsk New York, but the concept for it is already ready. “Vika managed to think through the concept of the second New York Literary Festival in detail. Its theme was supposed to be “Deoccupation of the future”. I think this is a very relevant formulation not only for 2021 or 2022, but also for the post-war period. Liberation of territories does not end with physical expulsion of the Russian military from there. Our share of the work comes after the military has done its part. Therefore, I personally think that this topic will be relevant for the first post-war NLF festival in New York,” she said. Amelina at NLF 2021. Photo: New York Literary Festival / Facebook “It is important for us to continue the projects that Vika started as close as possible to the concept she created, which she has already managed to describe and explain,” Rusina concluded. Victoria Amelina is a writer and public activist, a member of the Ukrainian PEN, laureate of the 2014 Coronation of the Word national award and the Joseph Conrad award. In 2021, she was nominated for the Central European Angelus Literary Award. In the year of the full-scale invasion, the writer joined the Truth Hounds organization, which has been documenting human rights violations in Ukraine for the past eight years. She took part in charity trips to de-occupied and front-line territories organized by the Ukrainian PEN. It was Viktoria who found the diaries of the writer Volodymyr Vakulenko, killed by the Russians, in the de-occupied Kapitolivka near Izyum. A printed version of Vakulenko’s diary was presented at the Book Arsenal in June, the foreword to which was written by Amelina. In 2021, the writer organized and held the first New York literary festival in the village of the same name in the Bakhmut district of Donetsk region. It was a two-day event, attended by about fifty guests – authors and musicians from all over Ukraine. Read also: Antidote. In memory of Victoria Amelina

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