Diasporic Postcards: GENESIS

When Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, as someone with Ukrainian ancestry living abroad, not only was I gripped by an immediate sense of despair and grief at this act of aggression and monumental and horrific violence, but my mind was flooded by so many unexpected thoughts, memories were roiled from depths unknown, and emotions gushed up like a nascent geyser.

Consequently, I’ve decided to commence a new blog series, Diasporic Postcards which will consist of shorter postcard or snapshot pieces exploring different quandaries, confusions, and contemplations bubbling in my writer’s soul.

I’d much rather be living in a world where this Ukraine-Russia war was the plot of a work of fiction and that I could continue working in peace on my current novel-in-progress. But the reality is my world has shifted again, and when a writer comes up with over twenty different topics in less than a day’s time, they know there’s some soul work occurring.

So, stay tuned for a series recounting things such as the puzzling paramilitary training I received as a child or my wanting to ‘just fit in’ with other Canadian kids, or relating my experiences on dealing with this kind of crisis from the other side of the world, and where I’ll also be sharing my deliberations on borders, patriotism, different ways of being exiled within one’s culture…and more.