199th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko–Ukrainian Literature Day

Taras Shevchenko: Self-portrait (1840).Yesterday was the 199th anniversary of the father of Ukrainian language and identity, Taras Shevchenko – poet, author and artist. Today is the anniversary of his death in St. Petersburgh, and two months later was re-buried in his native Ukraine to fulfill his last wishes as memorialized in his testament:

My Testament (Zapovit)

When I am dead, bury me
In my beloved Ukraine,
My tomb upon a grave mound high
Amid the spreading plain,
So that the fields, the boundless steppes,
The Dnieper’s plunging shore
My eyes could see, my ears could hear
The mighty river roar.

When from Ukraine the Dnieper bears
Into the deep blue sea
The blood of foes … then will I leave
These hills and fertile fields –
I’ll leave them all and fly away
To the abode of God,
And then I’ll pray …. But till that day
I nothing know of God.

Oh bury me, then rise ye up
And break your heavy chains
And water with the tyrants’ blood
The freedom you have gained.
And in the great new family,
The family of the free,
With softly spoken, kindly word
Remember also me.

Taras Shevchenko
Pereyaslav, December 25, 1845
Translated by John Weir Toronto, 1961

[Shevchenko Museum]

A comprehensive list of his works are available at his online museum including his poetry, as well a detailed biography about his life, and his entire ‘Kobzar’ in Ukrainian. Also, North America’s only museum dedicated to him is in Toronto and open for visiting – which houses his now rescued statue

 

Ukrainian literature day

And while the Toronto reference library celebrated it last night with info sessions and exhibitions, it’s never too late to read up on your own. A while back we complied a good starter list to get you going, a good list of e-books, and books that have come out lately.

New ‘Holodomor sourcebook’ launches in Toronto Friday – and we’ve got the first chapter

The Holodomor ReaderA new extensive body of works on the Holodomor is being launched in Toronto this Friday, bringing together key documents, eyewitness accounts, survivor testimonies and articles, many in English for the first time – and we’ve got a preview below!

When: Friday, March 8th, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation, 2118A Bloor St. West, Toronto


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Dr. Bohdan Klid of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta discusses (in Ukrainian) “The Holodomor Reader Collection: How and Why It Came About” at the Toronto launch of The Holodomor Reader: A Sourcebook on the Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine.

Sponsored by the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Canada, Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC), and Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre. Additional information about the Reader: http://www.ciuspress.com/catalogue/history/324/the-holodomor-reader.

Наукове Товариство ім. Шевченка в Канаді, Науково-Освітний Центр Вивчення Голодомору і Українсько-Канадський Дослідчо-Документаційний Центр запрошують на доповідь (українською мовою) д-ра Богдана Кліда, асистента директора Канадського Інституту Українських Студій при Альбертському Університеті в Едмонтоні на тему “ЗБІРНИК МАТЕРІЯЛІВ ‘THE HOLODOMOR READER’ : ЯК І ЧОМУ ВОНА ПОСТАЛА” і на презентацію недавно виданої книжки The Holodomor Reader: A Sourcebook on the Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. Додаткова інформація про Reader: http://www.ciuspress.com/catalogue/history/324/the-holodomor-reader.

For those of you who can’t wait to pick up your copy, we have a sneak peek of the first chapter available to download for free!