Education has always been at the heart of UNWLA’s mission, as books are one of the most powerful ways to hear a nation’s voice, understand its values, and connect across cultures. Our Book Club is especially meaningful because it allows our members to share pride in their Ukrainian heritage with American friends through stories available in English and open conversation.
Anna PetelinaChair of the National Education Committee
One book a month. Open conversation.
Once a month, UNWLA members and friends gather online via Zoom, with sessions also streamed on YouTube, to discuss a selected book relevant to the current moment, whether it is a holiday, a historical moment, or a cultural theme.
The Club is open to all – Ukrainian Americans, friends of Ukraine, educators, librarians, students, and curious readers. It is an invitation to read, reflect, and share Ukrainian stories with your community – one book at a time.
Join the Facebook group for all updates.
Monthly on Zoom
Sessions are held on Zoom and later streamed on YouTube.
Ukrainian stories in English
Books chosen for holidays, historical moments, and cultural themes.
No expertise required
Conversations are personal, reflective, and grounded in how Ukrainian stories resonate with today’s American readers.
Sessions & recordings
Looking at Women Looking at War by Victoria Amelina
Looking at Women Looking at War is a powerful, deeply personal account of war, resistance, and the extraordinary women fighting for Ukraine's future.
Blending reportage, personal reflections, and the stories of Ukrainian soldiers, lawyers, and human rights defenders, Amelina explores courage, resilience, and the importance of documenting war crimes and preserving memory.
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Register once – the same Zoom link works for every Book Club meeting. You will receive a reminder with the link to join 24 hours before the meeting.
Register on Zoom
The Tears & Smiles of Things by Andriy Sodomora
A lyrical collection of essays and reflections by Andriy Sodomora, Ukraine’s renowned translator of classical literature, available in English for the first time.
Through memories, everyday observations, and timeless literary references, Sodomora explores happiness, loneliness, aging, and the beauty of ordinary things, taking readers on a journey through western Ukraine and centuries of world literature.
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Register once – the same Zoom link works for every Book Club meeting. You will receive a reminder with the link to join 24 hours before the meeting.
Register on Zoom
The Wild West of Eastern Europe by Pavlo Kazarin
The Wild West of Eastern Europe by Ukrainian journalist and writer Pavlo Kazarin explores Ukraine’s remarkable transformation from a post-Soviet nation grappling with questions of identity into a resilient defender of European freedom and democratic values.
Through insightful essays, Kazarin examines how russia’s annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas reshaped Ukrainian society, strengthened its national identity, and set the country on a new historical course.
The Ukrainian edition received BBC Ukraine’s Book of the Year Award in the Essay Writing category in 2022.
Guest speaker: Dr. Sophia Wilson, Associate Professor of Political Science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and President of the American Association for Ukrainian Studies, joined us to explore the book’s insights into Ukraine’s identity, history, and place in Eastern Europe.
Ukraine 22: Ukrainian Writers Respond to War
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This month, we read Ukraine 22: Ukrainian Writers Respond to War – a powerful collection of voices documenting the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion through the eyes of some of Ukraine’s leading writers.
Written from inside Ukraine, these essays and reflections capture the lived reality of war: nights spent sheltering in corridors, brief reunions with loved ones serving in the military, the struggle to preserve culture amid destruction, and an unflinching examination of Russian imperialism and its use of culture as a weapon.
At once deeply personal and profoundly political, the collection asks what it means to write, create, remember, and remain human while your country is fighting for its survival.
Legacy of Liberated Nations
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Queer Ukraine: An Anthology of LGBTQI+ Ukrainian Voices During Wartime
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Our guest speaker is Dr. Andrew Rimby – a scholar of queer American and British literature, professor, and podcast host – who guides us through the anthology’s themes, literary significance, and the importance of preserving and amplifying voices that are too often overlooked.
Forgottenness by Tanja Maljartschuk
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Note: new meeting registration link.
Ecocide in Ukraine: The Environmental Cost of Russia’s War by Darya Tsymbalyuk
Winner of 2026 UNWLA Kovaliv Fund Prize in nonfiction/historySee all time zones
If you have registered for the previous meeting, your link remains the same. You will receive a reminder with link to join 24 hours before the meeting.
Love Life by Oksana Lutsyshyna
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If you have registered for the previous meeting, your link remains the same. You will receive a reminder with link to join 24 hours before the meeting.
Cassandra by Lesia Ukrainka
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Special guest speaker: We will be joined by a special guest Uilleam Blacker, literary scholar and translator at University College London. He writes about Ukrainian culture for The Atlantic and The Guardian, has translated leading Ukrainian writers, and is currently working on a book about Ukraine’s multicultural literary heritage.
Read, reflect, and share Ukrainian stories
Join the UNWLA Book Club group on Facebook for upcoming books, registration links, and recordings.
