On February 24, 2022, Ukrainian Zhenya Berezhnaya woke up to a call from her family in Kharkov: the war had begun. Her usual life in her beloved Kyiv, where Zhenya wrote fairy tales for adults, taught and hosted a podcast about literature, was over. Sirens and spending the night in basements, evacuation, refugee status, the loss of a loved one, attempts to reassemble herself in a new country - all this is described in Berezhnaya's autobiographical novel "(Not) About War". This book is really not about war - it is about the experience of overcoming trauma, about how, thanks to creativity and the support of caring people, a place for freedom, love and hope can be found in a terrible reality.
HereWe talk about the design of the book in detail. Andhere— an announcement of the book itself and a commentary from the author.
