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Interview ODARKA TURCZENIUK HALYNA ZHURBA — WRITER Recently, Temple University student Odarka Turcheniuk was assigned as part of a course to interview a creative personality. The choice of subject, — whether it be a writer, painter or composer, male or female — was left up to her. While mulling over the representatives of the Ukrainian creative world in her native Philadelphia, Ms. Turcheniuk recalled the elderly author Halyna Zurba, whom she had visited as a child. A telephone call re vealed that Mrs. Zurba remembered Odarka and gladly agreed to an interview. Even with the help of a tape recorder it was difficult to grasp the scope of a creative lifetime. The assignment comprised autobiographical data, which are necessary for the delineation of the creative process, as well as the general character of the author’s work. The interview brought Odarka an "A” grade, and Halyna Zurba the opportunity to chat with a young person. This encounter between a 19-year-old student and a 90-year-old author has yielded an interesting re cord presented here in two parts. The interview took place during the final months of Halyna Zurba’s life. T: In your opinion, how does an artist come into be ing? Z: Artists and writers are born, not made. It is difficult to produce an artist or a writer. One needs a calling to become a writer, a painter, or a musician. For example, a very important aspect of a successful singer is the keenness of hearing. This is hard to develop. One is usually born with it. Nevertheless, creative aspirations can be nurtured, and interest can be evoked. This can be observed among children. For example, when you are telling a child a story, one child will listen attentively, while another child may be totally bored under the same circumstances. Some parents try to develop creative in terests in their children. T: How did you develop your interest in writing? Z: My father intensified my literary interests by ex tensive reading out loud, and by telling us stories and by simultaneously drawing pictures of characters and objects he was describing. Ever since I can remember, my father read to us a great deal before bed time. He would gather all of us (five) around him and read. As the children fell asleep one by one he would continue read ing, and only when all were asleep he would carry us back to our beds. By listening to all the wonderful stories I wanted to express myself. I taught myself to write and became more interested in writing than in reading. I tried to form words on paper even before I mastered the whole alphabet. Writing down words and sentences became my passion. I felt an urgent need to express my thoughts and feelings. Ever since I can remember, I had a strong con viction that my mission in life was to be a writer. I wrote stories, verses, and at twelve I was already writing a novel. At night I had a candle under my bed and wrote. Once I fell asleep and caused a small fire. T: Apart from reading and narrating stories how else did your parents try to capture your interest? Z: Besides Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian literature, my parents were familiar with West European culture. My mother knew French literature quite well and often told us children stories. My father was familiar with German literature. We had a large library at home. In our house culture was on a high level, and I was brought up in this spirit. T: What was the dominant influence in your childhood ? Z: We lived very close to nature. Up to age twenty I lived in a house in the woods. My father brought us up with love for nature. We climbed trees, all loved and rode horses (my first published short story was about a horse), and continuously strolled through the woods. One of my fondest childhood passtimes was walking through the woods and singing while the tops of trees swayed and rustled in the wind. I remember doing this when I was a little girl and up to the time when I left my parents’ home at the age of twenty. T: Were there any other occurrences or influences that had an impact on your choice of career? Z: My family was part of the Polish ruling class in pre-First World War Ukraine. My father was a superin tendent of one of the largest landowners. We lived in the country side, our house was surrounded by woods. We were very close to nature. Although my parents and immediate relatives were Polish, I was surrounded by peasants, agricultural workers, and household servants that were Ukrainian. The influence of their language and culture was very strong, and as a strong minded and rebellious child I began to identify myself with the hard working and ex ploited peasants rather than with those of my own social class. T: Were your convictions ever questioned or was your tendency to side with the oppressed ever challenged by your parents? Z: As I mentioned before, my immediate family was Polish, I was brought up, and my early writings were in that language. As I grew up and began to look at and closely examine people around me, I began to sympathize and side with the less fortunate common folks. This reflected not only in choice of subjects of my
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