Book Launch: Both Sides Face East/Durable Words (Academic Studies Press, 2025). Edited by Julia Sushytska, Alisa Slaughter and ariel rosé.

A multilingual anthology of various authors responding to the war in Ukraine in their respective languages, along with translations to Ukrainian and English. The book is a fruit of an international projectunder the auspices of Marci Shore, with the support of Fondation Jan Michalski and the International Renaissance Institute. A Ukrainian journalist ends each day “scorched by another person’s grief.” A schoolgirl in Croatia cherishes her Barbie and learns to dread air raid sirens more than her geometry homework. A poet imagines the spiritual life of a fish who escapes the hook. An exiled artist recreates her homeland in the shape of a bird. The writers assembled in this volume dream and document and remember, they translate one another’s work and meditate on fragility and resilience in the face of nihilism and obliteration. The collection gathers poems, essays, and stories written and translated in nine languages, reflecting an ongoing effort to communicate and understand across cultures. Both Sides FaceEast – Durable Words began as a response to the invasion of Ukraine, but stakes a wider claim on behalf of human value and integrity.

ariel rosé–poet, essayist, illustrator, author of the books morze nocą jest mięśniem serca, PIW2022 (the sea at night is a muscle of the heart) and Północ Przypowieści, Znak 2019 (North:Parables), and forthcoming: “Ukraine–A Polyphony” and “ways of swimming”; co-editor ofBoth Sides Face East/Durable Words (Academic Studies Press 2025), Borders De Todos Lados /Fronteras from all Directions (ibidem 2026). ariel is a member of PEN Berlin and CircoloScandinavo in Rome. Twice a year they have been inviting poets from underrepresentedcountries to Oslo for a reading–the fruit of which is an anthology to be issued by HOF, Norway2026. ariel is originally from Poland, a resident of Norway, living as a nomad between languagesand countries.

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