Wind of history rolls weekdays cigarette butts

Through the world that is white like bread, or snow or bloom.

Ihor Pavlyuk «The wind of history»

The rumour has it that over the world of Internet there is unique, joint poetry edition «Catching Gossammers» («Ловлячи осінні павутинки») by two poets Ukrainian Igor Pavlyuk and American Iouri Lazirko, and the book can be purchased in the network //www.amazon.com as well as in the network of bookstores «Barnes and Noble», that can be found in all European and American major cities. This miracle was created in the prestigious American publishing house Cratespace, which is a subsidiary of the holding Amazon.com» (newspaper "Day").

Taking into consideration the law "poetry is without limits”, through the borders of Europe and the USA poets have projected the Ukrainian poetry breakthrough to the West, introducing apart their original works in Ukrainian language their translations in English and Russian.

Poetry of both authors is elitist, so you can expect success only among fans of elite poetry. At least in Canada in almost every university there are professors trying to work in this field of literature and, apparently, they and others intellectuals would be attracted by this edition. It is important that the news of high-quality poetry existing and being written by "some Ukrinians” would spread between wise people like an echo…

It is very important for Ukrainian literature, that there appeared a swallow, which in various degree, will still ….sow Ukrainian soul in the words by the power of the world; for the words ... are able to fly with the wind like a pinch of understanding that could be felt with sharpblade eye went hunting and is waiting ... (Iouri Lazirko, site about his "poetic identity”).

Great misfortune of Ukraine, one of the largest countries in Europe, lies in Europe always covering eyes on Ukraine and pretending not to notice such "elephant", as if it were a white spot on the world map. However, spot cannot but cathes eyes...

Of course, it is not true, that West is so intellectually limited to be interested in Ukraine or knows little about it. Only in France there is famous explorer-scolar, Daniel Beauvois, University of Paris I (Pantheon - Sorbonne) Professor, director of Slavs History Center and president of the French Association of Ukrainian Studies, which since the 70th of the last century is studying Ukraine in the context of Polish nobility and Tsars from historical point of view and edited a lot of fundamental historical works devoted to "historical myth of Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. " One can meet scientists interested in Ukrainian, in many big countries of the world, and especially in the U.S.A. But the real reason for Ukraine being concealed in politics is that it is not profitable to enter into conflicts through Ukraine as it was earlier with the Polish gentry and tsarism, and now with the Kremlin "Putinism."

Well, if you are not let through the door, you need to get through the window. And this path is just favourite among the greatest poets , who as Franco wrote, never choose "wipe ways."

However, the greatest damage to Ukraine's contacts with the West was done by communist-bolshevik Iron Curtain, through which West saw the concept of "Soviet Union" as a synonym for Russia. The Kremlin, by the way, was not trying to disparce this misunderstanding" in any way, but vice versa encouraged it. In the culture it was the odious socialist realism that became this Iron Curtain, and in philosophy it was Marxist-Leninist doctrine, together with Stalinism. European, making sure that socialist realism is hypocrisy, was no longer paying attention to the marginal things,things of opposition, written in Esop language, looking at them as at the kind of pro-Soviet creations.

At present time all the "curtains" are removed, socialist trash is thrown into the oblivion, but, again, in the West conservative circles one can not observe open arms towards Ukraine, who was maid not so long time ago. The reason is a new syndrome under the name "what if we will hug and embrace a competitor and not plain one”, just give freedom to those Ukrainians! ..

So the most sensible thing would be to listen to the wise Confucius, who taught: "It is better to light a candle than complain all the time about the darkness."

This candle was lit by two Ukrainian-speakers, poets, and the distance between them on the globe is more than half of the equator. The project is global, which is real blessing! There is hope that the candle will not burnt out unnoticed, but will dispel the darkness of the honorary space ...

And moreover, poets as creative personalities are children in law of Europe and shepherd Pegasus, masters of music painted by words (Pavlyuk) and have something for the most demanding "music lover".

Poetry is also like raving, but not painful one. However at first glance. When you come across such images-metaphors as "happiness is drawn with tears on the human face ", or "That hole from a bullet will no longer be covered with bread when hot land will float under the foot" or "... When a wreath of thorns is slipped off, it is even more painful than when it is put on "or" I will make my funny snowwoman with her in the woods, the same as of stone in the steppes . Which of them is more internal in our heaven? The one who is more sad. "Among whom we will be famous? Among every khan” you see, hear, feel unique imagery system of original poetic world , in the original fresh creative paradigm. It is Igor Pavlyuk! Ukrainian with the volyn-dulibsky roots. The poet, who from the first steps in literature understood that Ukrainian will never get the recognition of the West by the way of plagiarism, by repeating in his creative practice well-known stylistic samples of modern literary trends in Europe. Secondary-imitative will not be of interest to to those Europeans interested in Ukraine. Ukrainian should attract at first by something purely Ukrainian, purely mental, valuable, that can be added to general treasure house. Therefore, he was not joining groups that "were enriching" the new, liberated Ukrainian literature with tons of poetic production, created on the samples of the West originals, that by the transience of literary procesesses disappeared as attempts into the nothingness and oblivion. The poet was getting his own "voice", his own "music of words" from his own "unconscious" delirium, but with a subtle flair of creative harrows of newtimes, spinning the flywheel of his remarkable talent at full capacity, fully using all the features of his character of "risky guy," "desperate", and "adventurer".

...As Borys Oliynyk wrote in the preface to his collection of poetry "Ukraine in smoke". "Even having cognized foreigh, machine-glass-concrete, he does not intrude with publicist invectives, but with some good sorrow sympathizes with this ear without origin-tribe." "Among the poets of his generation Igor Pavlyuk stands somewhat apart." "For now when there is fall of public morality, such personalities as Igor Pavlyuk are especially encouraging examples for youth. Since he proves with his life and creative practice that there are constants - Ukraine, mother, father, mother-earth that are not for sale. The reason for this – they are forever! At the same time... "Pavlyuk never teared up a shirt on himself, never rushed into the blind apologetics ... "Particularly in his book Pavlyuk provides a selection of poems without any" apologetics " and a poet of another country, from whenever continent he is will perceive his creativity.

So, poetry, introduced by Igor Pavlyuk to the court of the world is far from social or ultranational; it is poetry that is a kind of peculiar, gnoseological breakthrough to divine truth, cosmic and purely from earth at the same time, in fact, that subconscious that is acquired by the way of exquisite metaphors, by music of words from the mental depths and is transformed into freshness of poetic ratio.

It should be noted: while looking superficially at the stylistic features of Igor Pavlyuk’s works one can attribute them to post..postmodern of the highest level, however, having approached to a distance where you can smell the aroma of newborn word , it can be easily seen that with his own paradigm of creative life in literature he stands among a number of poets, like Californian sequoia among usual, however, also good-quality forest.

For this reason it seems that creativity of Igor Pavlyuk and Iouri Lazirko is very close ... However, when you smell the aroma closer, you can understand that poets are too different, although they tried to approach thematically, "to globalize". Pavlyuk is more transparent and more emotional ... of course, for reasons arising from broadsides of Borys Oliynyk, Iouri Lazirko uses more associativity, so he is less masked in metaphors "But it is not drawback".

Obviously, if in Ukraine appears more books and information about Iouri Lazirko, the Ukrainian reader will perceive his poetry better.

Separate discussion should occur about the translations, in terms of professional translators. Hardly a good thing that poets without general translation practice translate each other as friends.

For the Ukrainian reader, however, the original works of both poets are of the biggest value.

The fact that the project is promising and is very much needed in Ukrainian literature is an undeniable fact. Nevertheless, a certain level of freedom and sovereignty in the country is bearing fruits and they should be nurtured.

                                                                           Levko Riznyk