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Nucleus: A Poet’s Lyrical Journey from Ukraine to Canada
by Svetlana Ischenko (Ronsdale $18.95)
Interview (BCBW 2023)
As the invasion of Ukraine careens onward, poet Svetlana Ischenko dives deep into the literary landscape of identity. With deeply-held Ukrainian sensibilities, she optimistically writes about life in Canada as an immigrant using sonnets and lyrical poems.
In her introductory essay to Nucleus, Ischenko examines the adage “Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” Does a person’s identity get lost when that person becomes an immigrant and tries to translate their self into a new self, in a new country? And if a person writes poems and is deeply attached to their original country, its language and culture, how will that “translation” work, exactly?
Ischenko is an award-winning poet, translator, actress, playwright, artist and teacher. She lives in North Vancouver. BC BookWorld asked Ischenko to reflect on the themes of Nucleus in the following interview.
BC BOOKWORLD: Nucleus tackles the creative tensions you have encountered as a Ukrainian immigrant in Canada. Can you describe those tensions?
Svetlana Ischenko: When I first came to Canada, I saw myself as a Ukrainian in Canada, but after a while, I thought of myself as a Ukrainian-Canadian. I haven’t been able to return to Ukraine since the invasion (and am desperate to, as my mother is alone in my home city of Mykolaiv), but I’ve gone back to Ukraine every couple of years since I came to Canada, and while there, I’ve noticed I’ve acquired a Canadian “flavour.” At first, I thought this might mean I was losing my sense of being Ukrainian. That brought a certain tension which I sometimes expressed in poetry. But the longer I’ve lived in Canada, and the more I’ve learned about Canada’s history, its cultures, and the diversity that is so key to Canada, the more I’ve assumed a Canadian identity into my Ukrainian identity. Whereas before I saw the world from the perspective of one country and culture, now I can look at the world from multiple perspectives.
BCBW: Does your poetry take on an added profundity in light of the invasion of Ukraine?
Ischenko: Hopefully, yes. But my answer comes out of complicated feelings. I’m sad to say yes here because it sometimes seems to me that it took a war to draw world attention to Ukrainian literature and culture. Ukrainian literature is still often seen as a kind of Russian sub-literature, when the truth is that Ukrainian literature has always existed powerfully in its own right.
As heinous as the invasion of Ukraine has been, and as tragic, it has motivated Ukrainian people to clarify their identity. At the same time, it has highlighted the wide scope of Ukrainian literature and made for the addition of some unique Ukrainian-language masterpieces to the world’s literary treasures.
When it comes to my own efforts, since the invasion of Ukraine, the focus in my poems on Ukrainian culture, language and literature has intensified. I just hope that my pieces bring readers illumination and understanding of what it is to be Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Canadian.
BCBW: One of the concerns of your poetry is with the nature of identity as seen through both language and being an immigrant. Can you illuminate this dynamic?
Ischenko: As an immigrant in Canada, I’ve had to find my way at every turn through language. Gesturing isn’t enough, especially if you’re a writer.
I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve also been a stage actress, painter and dancer, so I’ve been able to express myself through other forms of art and compensate for my lack of fluency in English.
Still, the dynamic for me has always been to try to use English as well as possible, while not losing my Ukrainian. Of course, by not losing my Ukrainian I mean not only language but individual identity. It’s an ongoing process. I enjoy the process. It’s made me think about what identity is, and about how a sense of self might be dictated by language.
I can say that as an immigrant I have struggled language-wise. But when I gradually got to the point where I could write poems in English, it only widened my possibilities as a person and enriched my identity.
BCBW: Is there a parallel to your work as an actress in that acting is a kind of translation of words and physical movement?
Ischenko: Yes, I think there is a parallel. For me, acting is very much a kind of translation of words and physical movement. Acting has helped me understand my own motivation for choosing certain words—why I might use this or that “action” in a poem. And, yes, I “translate” physical movement into words. I remember a stage director saying to me, “Don’t reply right away. Process the words of the stage partners through your body. Give me your physical reaction. And only then, voice your reply.”
I tend to stage-direct my own poetry. I tell myself: do the action in your thoughts and feelings and then produce it in a written version. This isn’t to say that I don’t often simply discover what I want to say as I write. But sometimes, in the context of a particular poem, writing for me is like putting myself into a role or character. I have the imagery in front of me like in a movie, frame by frame, and build a poem that goes with that imagery based on my understanding of the character—except the character is myself. I’ve probably become more aware of doing this as I’ve written more often in two languages.
BCBW: What is your next literary project?
Ischenko: Right now, I’m busy with non-writing artistic activities. Recently, I completed a painting project and had a couple of art exhibits. I tend to move between different forms of art. I’ll go back to working with words soon, I think! It will be my own poetry or translation of Ukrainian poetry into English, or Canadian English-language poetry into Ukrainian. 9781553807070
BOOKS:
Nucleus (Ronsdale, 2024) $18.95 9781553807070
[BCBW 2024]
by Svetlana Ischenko (Ronsdale $18.95)
Interview (BCBW 2023)
As the invasion of Ukraine careens onward, poet Svetlana Ischenko dives deep into the literary landscape of identity. With deeply-held Ukrainian sensibilities, she optimistically writes about life in Canada as an immigrant using sonnets and lyrical poems.
In her introductory essay to Nucleus, Ischenko examines the adage “Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” Does a person’s identity get lost when that person becomes an immigrant and tries to translate their self into a new self, in a new country? And if a person writes poems and is deeply attached to their original country, its language and culture, how will that “translation” work, exactly?
Ischenko is an award-winning poet, translator, actress, playwright, artist and teacher. She lives in North Vancouver. BC BookWorld asked Ischenko to reflect on the themes of Nucleus in the following interview.
BC BOOKWORLD: Nucleus tackles the creative tensions you have encountered as a Ukrainian immigrant in Canada. Can you describe those tensions?
Svetlana Ischenko: When I first came to Canada, I saw myself as a Ukrainian in Canada, but after a while, I thought of myself as a Ukrainian-Canadian. I haven’t been able to return to Ukraine since the invasion (and am desperate to, as my mother is alone in my home city of Mykolaiv), but I’ve gone back to Ukraine every couple of years since I came to Canada, and while there, I’ve noticed I’ve acquired a Canadian “flavour.” At first, I thought this might mean I was losing my sense of being Ukrainian. That brought a certain tension which I sometimes expressed in poetry. But the longer I’ve lived in Canada, and the more I’ve learned about Canada’s history, its cultures, and the diversity that is so key to Canada, the more I’ve assumed a Canadian identity into my Ukrainian identity. Whereas before I saw the world from the perspective of one country and culture, now I can look at the world from multiple perspectives.
BCBW: Does your poetry take on an added profundity in light of the invasion of Ukraine?
Ischenko: Hopefully, yes. But my answer comes out of complicated feelings. I’m sad to say yes here because it sometimes seems to me that it took a war to draw world attention to Ukrainian literature and culture. Ukrainian literature is still often seen as a kind of Russian sub-literature, when the truth is that Ukrainian literature has always existed powerfully in its own right.
As heinous as the invasion of Ukraine has been, and as tragic, it has motivated Ukrainian people to clarify their identity. At the same time, it has highlighted the wide scope of Ukrainian literature and made for the addition of some unique Ukrainian-language masterpieces to the world’s literary treasures.
When it comes to my own efforts, since the invasion of Ukraine, the focus in my poems on Ukrainian culture, language and literature has intensified. I just hope that my pieces bring readers illumination and understanding of what it is to be Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Canadian.
BCBW: One of the concerns of your poetry is with the nature of identity as seen through both language and being an immigrant. Can you illuminate this dynamic?
Ischenko: As an immigrant in Canada, I’ve had to find my way at every turn through language. Gesturing isn’t enough, especially if you’re a writer.
I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve also been a stage actress, painter and dancer, so I’ve been able to express myself through other forms of art and compensate for my lack of fluency in English.
Still, the dynamic for me has always been to try to use English as well as possible, while not losing my Ukrainian. Of course, by not losing my Ukrainian I mean not only language but individual identity. It’s an ongoing process. I enjoy the process. It’s made me think about what identity is, and about how a sense of self might be dictated by language.
I can say that as an immigrant I have struggled language-wise. But when I gradually got to the point where I could write poems in English, it only widened my possibilities as a person and enriched my identity.
BCBW: Is there a parallel to your work as an actress in that acting is a kind of translation of words and physical movement?
Ischenko: Yes, I think there is a parallel. For me, acting is very much a kind of translation of words and physical movement. Acting has helped me understand my own motivation for choosing certain words—why I might use this or that “action” in a poem. And, yes, I “translate” physical movement into words. I remember a stage director saying to me, “Don’t reply right away. Process the words of the stage partners through your body. Give me your physical reaction. And only then, voice your reply.”
I tend to stage-direct my own poetry. I tell myself: do the action in your thoughts and feelings and then produce it in a written version. This isn’t to say that I don’t often simply discover what I want to say as I write. But sometimes, in the context of a particular poem, writing for me is like putting myself into a role or character. I have the imagery in front of me like in a movie, frame by frame, and build a poem that goes with that imagery based on my understanding of the character—except the character is myself. I’ve probably become more aware of doing this as I’ve written more often in two languages.
BCBW: What is your next literary project?
Ischenko: Right now, I’m busy with non-writing artistic activities. Recently, I completed a painting project and had a couple of art exhibits. I tend to move between different forms of art. I’ll go back to working with words soon, I think! It will be my own poetry or translation of Ukrainian poetry into English, or Canadian English-language poetry into Ukrainian. 9781553807070
BOOKS:
Nucleus (Ronsdale, 2024) $18.95 9781553807070
[BCBW 2024]
