Commemorating Vasyl Stus

January 23, 2008

On 23 January the literary readings Do Tebe Ya Shche Vernu (Yet I Will Return to You) dedicated to the 70th anniversary commemoration of Vasyl Stus took place in Ostroh Academy National University.

The event was initiated by the Student Council of the College of Political Studies and Information Management with the aim to express students’ attitudes towards the life of the outstanding publicist, critic, and member of Ukrainian Helsinki Association Vasyl Stus and acquaint them with his works.

Oleksandr Shynkaruk retold the poet’s biography; the other students did readings of Stus’ poems. In addition, everyone present had an opportunity to see photographs of Vasyl Stus, his family and friends.

The uniqueness of the evening was that the students played roles of the artists who painted associative pictures of Stus’ artwork. “Our desire was to make the participants express their thoughts so that they were not just passive observers. That is why we asked them to paint associations of Vasyl Stus’ live and creative work”, said the event hostess Larysa Zhuk.

The best ‘artists’ were presented with CDs with the recording of Vasyl Stus reading his poems himself and songs written to his poems.