Uilleam Blacker

Thank you!

Defensive Wall: Why Ukraine’s Culture Is Everyone’s Fight To understand how to reinforce Ukraine’s security, we must examine the strategies being used to undermine it. Uilleam Blacker argues that culture is a crucial element of Russia’s aggression, and that ...

Fortunate to hear writer Volodymyr Rafeyenko speak on “Language, Identity, and the Experience of Occupation” at Yale, moderated by @uilleamblacker.bsky.social .

Rafeyenko’s new work: books.huri.harvard.edu/books/signal...

Blacker’s latest piece: www.londonukrainianreview.org/posts/defens...

Poet as Witness - Poets House 10/30: When war shatters daily life, poetry rises as testimony. Readings from Anna Malihon, Iryna Vikyrchak, Lesyk Panasiuk and their translators.

When war shatters daily life, poetry rises as testimony. Ukrainian poets speak in words that refuse silence, tracing the lines between loss and resilience, grief and human dignity.

Presented in partnership with @razomforukraine.org and the Ukrainian Cultural Festival.

RSVP to the event today!

Poet As Witness A Hybrid Reading from Ukrainian poets and their translators

Photo collage of Anna Malihon, Iryna Vikyrchak, Lesyk Panasiuk and their translators Olena Jennings, Nina Murray, and Ilya Kaminsky.

Join us on 10/30, 7 PM ET for a hybrid reading from Anna Malihon, Irina Vikyrchak, Lesyk Panasiuk, and their translators Olena Jennings, Nina Murray, and @ilyakaminsky.bsky.social.

Moderated by @uilleamblacker.bsky.social.

YouTube video by Universitetet i Bergen The War and Beyond: Perspectives on Ukrainian culture and society

Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmgq...

UKRAINETT+ Conference - The War and Beyond: Perspectives on Ukrainian culture and society (14 - 15 October) - UKRAINETT The University of Bergen hosts the second Ukrainett+ conference 14 – 15 October 2025.  UKRAINETT+ aims to enhance Ukrainian-Norwegian research collaboration and advance Ukrainian studies in Norway, Uk...

Thrilled to be delivering (alongside @bohdananeborak.bsky.social) one of two keynotes at this conference on Ukrainian culture/society at University of Bergen. Details👇; youtube link for keynotes in the next message. Thanks @ingunnlu.bsky.social for organising!
uni.oslomet.no/ukrainett/uk...

‘Defensive Wall: Why Ukraine’s Culture Is Everyone’s Fight’ by Uilleam Blacker
@uilleamblacker.bsky.social
londonukrainianreview.org/posts/defens... 6/10

This interview with @peterpomerantsev.bsky.social is quite brilliant. »Olesya Khromeychuk spoke to Peter Pomerantsev about the subtleties of waging information warfare, the challenges of cultivating a world of truth and justice today, and creating the kind of space where democracy can be practised.«

Culture as Security This issue of the London Ukrainian Review takes a look at culture as a matter of national security. Highlighting the voices of cultural figures who defend Ukraine with arms, it also examines culture a...

Don't miss the new London Ukrainian Review on Culture as Security! Articles on disinformation, western pro-russia bias, music & poetry at war, Crimea-Palestine, writers at the front, & my piece on why supporting Ukrainian culture can help beat russia. www.londonukrainianreview.org/posts/cultur...

Winners of the Hvylya / Dalğa Prize for the promotion of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages honored in Ukraine Winners of the Hvylya / Dalğa Prize for the promotion of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages honored in Ukraine For the first time, the Ukrainian Institute recognized activists who have made sig...

Thrilled that my colleague Marta Jenkala has won the Hvylia/Dalga award for promoting Ukrainian language abroad from
the state Ukrainian Institute. Marta taught Ukrainian at @uclssees.bsky.social and @camukrainistyka.bsky.social, and led @ukrinstitute.bsky.social.
ui.org.ua/en/news-en/h...

🎙️ Tune in to the latest episode of The Ukraine Shelf podcast where @oliahercules.bsky.social and Felicity Spector speak with @uilleamblacker.bsky.social and @okhromeychuk.bsky.social on all things food!

☁️ soundcloud.com/european-ins...
🎧 www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6HZ...

#Europe #TheUkraineShelf

Listen!

YouTube video by Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI) Kinsella, Andryczyk, Blacker — Earth Gods: Writings from before the War by Taras Prokhasko

It was a joy to talk translation with Ali Kinsella, Mark Andryczyk & Oleh Kotsyuba at the launch of Taras Prokhasko's Earth Gods @huribooks.bsky.social last week! We talked botany, brain scans, geopolitics & mountain dialects👇. Happy International Translator Day! www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7Y...

Gas shortages ‘finally’ hit Moscow as Kyiv intensifies strikes on refineries & David Knowles on the largest Nazi massacre in Ukraine Podcast Episode · Ukraine: The Latest · 26/09/2025 · 55m

I spoke to the @telegraphnews.bsky.social Ukraine: The Latest podcast about Babyn Yar and Holocaust memory in Ukraine. Thank you @adeliepjz.bsky.social and the much-missed David Knowles for the invitation and for your excellent reporting from Kyiv in this episode. podcasts.apple.com/gr/podcast/g...

I echo what my fellow russianist and colleague @sarahjyoung.bsky.social says, and fully support what @uilleamblacker.bsky.social calls for in his essay.

Thanks, Seth!

Thank you, Sarah!

Russia is not the sea Imperial Russia saw the nation as the sea into which all the other Slavic cultures flowed. The idea persists today not only in Russia's attitude towards its neighbourhood, but also in the way eastern ...

Brilliant, thought-provoking essay by my colleague @uilleamblacker.bsky.social - as a russianist who fully accepts that I have contributed this problem, I’d welcome the sort of institutional change Uilleam argues for here, and am trying to work towards that. www.eurozine.com/russia-is-no...

Russia is not the sea Imperial Russia saw the nation as the sea into which all the other Slavic cultures flowed. The idea persists today not only in Russia's attitude towards its neighbourhood, but also in way the region i...

@uilleamblacker.bsky.social:
"Institutions that are built around the idea of ‘Russia and Eastern Europe’, or even Slavic Studies, are something akin to the fossil fuel industries. If we want to find a sustainable and ethical way forward, they are no longer tenable" www.eurozine.com/russia-is-no...

Thanks for reading!

I wrote for Eurozine on the lingering imperial geographies that define our understandings of Ukraine and eastern Europe.

Thank you for listening!

Olesya Khromeychuk - The Ukraine Shelf Ukraine is at the centre of world events today, and understanding the country’s politics, history and culture has never been more important. The Ukraine Shelf is a podcast where Uilleam Blacker and I...

A podcast not to be missed by anyone who wants to understand #Ukraine. I've just devoured all 5 episodes. Thank you @okhromeychuk.bsky.social & @uilleamblacker.bsky.social for this crucial contribution. I particularly liked the fascinating episode on Crimea! www.olesyakhromeychuk.com/projects/the...

Looking for something uplifting today? The latest Ukraine Shelf episode explores food: how it nourishes, connects, and helps overcome trauma. @uilleamblacker.bsky.social and I chat with chef and activist @oliahercules.bsky.social, and journalist and volunteer Felicity Spector. 🎧 Link below.

YouTube video by Ukrainian Institute London Odesa: identity, resistance, and imperial legacy

Watch the recording of our discussion on Odesa, identity, resistance & empire with @julianevans.bsky.social, Olha Sydorushkina, Oksana Dovgopolova, Ivan Kozlenko. Organised by @uclssees.bsky.social & @ukrinstitute.bsky.social, supported by @britishacademy.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb17...

YouTube video by Ukrainian Institute London The Ukraine Shelf Episode 5: Food with Olia Hercules and Felicity Spector

New Ukraine Shelf episode out now! @okhromeychuk.bsky.social and I spoke to @oliahercules.bsky.social and @felicityspector.bsky.social about Ukrainian food culture, how food sustains in wartime, the implications of the war for global food supplies and more. youtu.be/lwODG8kdTrM?...

Uilleam Blacker & Olesya Khromeychuk: The Ukraine Shelf From Sun 10 Aug - As the war in Ukraine continues, The Ukraine Shelf podcast brings together leading authors, scholars, and journalists for lively and informed discussions about what we should be read...

Very excited to be recording a special edition of The Ukraine Shelf at @edbookfest.bsky.social with my co-host @okhromeychuk.bsky.social and the brilliant Oksana Maksymchuk and Phillipe Sands! Ticketes here: www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

Uilleam Blacker & Olesya Khromeychuk: The Ukraine Shelf From Sun 10 Aug - As the war in Ukraine continues, The Ukraine Shelf podcast brings together leading authors, scholars, and journalists for lively and informed discussions about what we should be read...

Very excited to be recording a special edition of The Ukraine Shelf at @edbookfest.bsky.social with my co-host @okhromeychuk.bsky.social and the brilliant Oksana Maksymchuk and Phillipe Sands! Ticketes here: www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

Presented on a fantastic panel “Contact zones & Cross-Cultural Dialogue in Ukrainian Literature” chaired by @uilleamblacker.bsky.social & had the pleasure to run a panel series “Between Past & Future: The Ukrainian War as a Battle for Identity” @iceeess.bsky.social, hosted by @uclssees.bsky.social

Uilleam Blacker: ‘My understanding of postcolonialism came through Ukrainian literature’ The translator and researcher on the most impactful stories in Ukrainian literature, the role of cultural diplomacy and the craft of translation

My interview for The Ukrainians is now available in English. We talked postcolonialism, western cultural biases, translation, Ukrainian-Scottish parallels, and more. theukrainians.org/en/uilleam-b...