Halyna Vdovychenko © photo private
Halyna Vdovychenko [Ukraine]
The Ukrainian journalist and writer Halyna Vdovychenko was born in 1959 on the Kola Peninsula. She studied at the philological faculty of the National University of Lviv “Ivan Franko”. In 2008, Halyna Vdovychenko made her debut with the novel “Pivyabluka” (t: Half of an Apple), the first edition of which sold out within a month. It tells the story of four friends in Lviv – an editor, a designer Iryna, a proofreader and a TV presenter – who one day come across a strange souvenir – a mysterious wooden apple that has the magic power to change the life of the protagonist in whose life it appears. Halyna Vdovychenko’s second novel “Zamok Gerbutiv” (t: Herburt Castle) won first prize in the long prose category of the “Koronacija slova – 2009” competition and was published under the title “Tamdevin”. In it, a successful Ukrainian artist who has made a career in Russia travels to a remote village near an old castle at the invitation of a former classmate. There, a scientist researches the behaviour of wolves in the wild in the Carpathian Mountains and cares for three newborn wolf cubs who have lost their parents, until an unexpected encounter with the artist radically changes his life and that of the wolves. Halyna Vdovychenko’s first children’s book, the fairy tale “Mishkovi Mishi” (t: Mishkas Mice) with illustrations by the artist Anna Sarvira, was published in 2011. It was followed by many other, mostly illustrated children’s books. In 2015, the first part of the trilogy “36 i 6 kotiv” (t: 36 and 6 Cats) about the adventures of stray cats was published, which entered the primary and secondary school programme in Ukraine. The Latvian translation won a book prize from the National Jury for Children, Youth and Parents (Latvia) in the 9+ category in 2022.
“Sova, jaka chotila stati shajvoronkom” (2018; t: The Owl who wanted to become a Lark) was included in the prestigious annual international catalogue of book recommendations “White Raven” 2019. The story is about an owl who wants to sing at night like a lark. “We often want to bend ourselves to be someone we are not really. We don’t have to want to be someone else, because each of us is unique,” Halyna Vdovychenko said in summary of her book. Her novel “Bora” was published in 2011. The title, which evokes the island of the same name in the Pacific Ocean, but also “cold, gusty wind” (Greek), tells the story of the author Khrystyna Bora, who has only written one novel so far and whose life changes abruptly when she takes on a fairytale inheritance in the form of an old house on the outskirts of Lviv. Halyna Vdovychenko’s novel “Mariupolskij proces” (2015; t: Mariupol process) turns to the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2014, and uses a love story to tell less about the war itself and more about the lives of people in times of war.
Until 2017, Halyna Vdovychenko was deputy editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper “Vysokyi Zamok”. She lives in Lviv.
[http://www.galynawdowychenko.com]
Bibliography
Пів’яблука [Half of an Apple]
Нора-Друк
Kiev, 2008
Замок Гербуртів (Тамдевін) [Herburt Castle (Tamdevin)]
Нора-Друк
Kiev, 2009
Хто такий Ігор? [Who is Igor?]
Нора-Друк
Kiev, 2010
Мишкові Миші [Mishkas Mices]
[iлюстрації Анни Сарвіри]
Грані-Т
Kiev, 2011
Бора [Bora]
Клуб сімейного дозвілля
Kharkiv, 2011
Маріупольський процес [Mariupol process]
Клуб сімейного дозвілля
Kharkiv, 2015
Засинай. Прокидайся [Fall asleep. Wake up]
[ілюстрації Віолетти Борігард]
Видавництво Старого Лева
Lviv, 2016
Ось відкрита долоня [Here is an open palm]
[ілюстрації Тетяни Гущиної]
Клуб сімейного дозвілля
Kharkiv, 2016
36 і 6 котів–детективів [36 and 6 cats-detectives]
[художнє оформлення Наталії Гайди]
Видавництво Старого Лева
Lviv, 2017
Сова, яка хотіла стати жайворонком [The Owl who wanted to become a Lark]
[художнє оформлення Христини Лукащук]
Чорні вівці
Chernivtsi, 2018
Чорна-чорна курка [Black, black chicken]
[художнє оформлення Наталії Гайди]
Видавництво Старого Лева
Lviv, 2018
Ліга непарних шкарпеток [The League of Odd Socks]
[художнє оформлення Арсена Джанікяна]
Видавництво Старого Лева
Lviv, 2019
Найважливіше – наприкінці [The most important thing comes in the end]
Видавництво Старого Лева
Lviv, 2019
Котохатка [Cat hut]
[художнє оформлення Наталії Гайди]
Видавництво Старого Лева
Lviv, 2019
Містельфи [Mistelfi]
[ілюстрації Анни Ломакіної]
Видавництво Старого Лева
Lviv, 2020
36 і 6 котів-рятувальників [36 and 6 cats–rescuers]
[художнє оформлення Наталії Гайди]
Видавництво Старого Лева
Lviv, 2021