Nucleus A poet's lyrical journey from Ukraine to Canada

Ischenko tackles the creative tension between her identity as a Ukrainian poet with deeply Ukrainian sensibilities and an immigrant poet enthused by her adopted country. Readers see through a Ukrainian immigrant’ s eyes as she looks back at the land and traditions of her original country. This collection illuminates Ischenko’ s poetic transformation from a heroic crown of sonnets to freer, lyrical pieces, all within the dynamic of Ukrainian and Canadian subject matter and sensibilities. A powerful collection, made even more profound in light of recent events in Ukraine. Nucleus includes a fascinating introductory essay about Ischenko’ s experience of identity and translation, which explores her translation of self in a new country. By slowly beginning to write in Canada in English, she achieves a sense of centredness beyond language and culture — a nucleus of identity.

Svetlana Ischenko is an award-winning poet, translator, actress and teacher. She was born in Mykolaiv, Ukraine where she established herself as a stage actress and poet before immigrating to Canada in 2001. She is the author of several books of poetry, essays and dramatic plays in Ukrainian and English. In Canada, her poems have been published in The Antigonish Review and Event and included in the anthology Che Wach Choe/Let the Delirium Begin (Leaf Press) and the chapbook In the Mornings I Find a Crane’ s Feathers in my Damp Braids (Leaf Press). She lives with her family in North Vancouver, BC