Both Sides Face East. Volume 1

A Ukrainian journalist ends each day “scorched by another person’s grief.” A schoolgirl in Croatia cherishes her Barbie and learns to dread air raid sirens more than her geometry homework. A poet imagines the spiritual life of a fish who escapes the hook. An exiled artist recreates her homeland in the shape of a bird. The writers assembled in this volume dream and document and remember, they translate one another’s work and meditate on fragility and resilience in the face of nihilism and obliteration. The collection gathers poems, essays, and stories written and translated in nine languages, reflecting an ongoing effort to communicate and understand across cultures.Both Sides Face East– Durable Words began as a response to the invasion of Ukraine, but stakes a wider claim on behalf of human value and integrity.

Julia Sushytska (PhD., Philosophy, SUNY Stony Brook) is Resident Assistant Professor in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture at Occidental College. She teaches courses in European and Eastern European philosophy and literature. Her research focuses on metics—those who position themselves in-between major cultures and languages.

Alisa Slaughter is a California-based writer and translator. She co-translated A Spy for an Unknown Country, lectures and essays by Merab Mamardashvili (2021, ibidemVerlag). She holds an MFA from Warren Wilson College and an MA in comparative literature from the University of Arizona. She teaches at the University of Redlands.

ariel rosé is a Polish Norwegian poet, essayist, illustrator, translator. They are the author and illustrator of the books morze nocą jest mięśniem serca(the sea by night is a muscle of the heart, PIW 2022) and Północ. Przypowieści (North: Parables, Znak 2019). They are the fellow of INDEX / Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), Ukraine.