Yaryna Kushnir

A literary columnist on the platform's books desk. She runs a weekly review section on new Ukrainian prose and poetry, deliberately avoiding plot summary in favour of a conversation about language, composition and tone. She compiles the annual what-to-read selections and moderates public discussions at book fairs. She works especially with debut authors, choosing several first books each season and accompanying them with extended analyses, since criticism matters most at the debut stage. She never writes about a book she has not finished, and always names the edition and print run she quotes from. A review, she holds, should read no worse than the book it examines, and an honest negative judgement serves the reader better than polite silence.