Mariia Tytarenko

A poet, an essay writer, a journalist, a media researcher. Founder of MA Program in Media and Communications at The Ukrainian Catholic University (2012). Kandydat Nauk in Social Communications. Fulbright Faculty Development Program Fellow (2008-2009). PEN Ukraine member. Associate Professor at UCU School of Journalism and Communications. Teaches courses on Communication Theory, Creative Writing, Storytelling, Essay and Reportage Writing, etc.

Maria Shubchyk is the Head of the Communications Department and Coordinator of Literature and Translation Promotion Projects at the Goethe-Institut Ukraine. For the past 2 years, she has been a co-curator of the Ukrainian programme at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs and manager of the «Suitcase with Books» project.

Lesya Ganzha — Ukrainian journalist, editor-in-chief of online-servise about access to public information «Access to the Truth». Media and culture observer, author of reports from Crimea and Donbas since 2014. Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion – a combatant of the Armed Forces. Participant in the fighting in Irpen (2022), the defense of Kharkiv and the counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region (2022), the fighting on the Svatovo-Kreminny and Bakhmut directions (2023).

Doctor of History, the teacher of some courses in the National University Kyiv Mohyla Academy

Since 2011, she’s been a driving force behind BerkoShko, an alternative school still thriving today. From 2014, she’s led educational seminars, and in 2022, she co-founded NGO «Valency. Rethinking» focused on educational projects. She also co-authors the Repainted Fox podcast, offering psychological insights into Ukrainian classics and developing tabletop games to explore literature anew.

Journalist, media manager. Cofounder of the Public Interest Journalism Lab. Editor and author at The Reckoning Project. Covered Revolution of Dignity and Russian aggression at Euronews. Author of documentary investigations about the killings at Maydan and the case of Ukrainian prisoners in Russia Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko. Editor-in-chief at hromadske in 2017-2020. Worked on setting up multimedia newsroom at Suspilne in 2020-2022, first as editor-in-chief, later as the head of news.

Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv are book authors, designers and illustrators, members of PEN Ukraine. Сo-founders of Art Studio Agrafka. Received a number
of awards for their work, among them are Bologna Ragazzi Award, NAMI Concours, Stiftung Buchkunst Best Book Design from all over the World and others.

Daisy Gibbons is a translator from Ukrainian into English and a graduate of Cambridge University’s Slavonic Department. For her translation she has been awarded two prizes from the Ukrainian Institute in London. She translates contemporary and classic Ukrainian literature and drama. After several periods living in Ukraine she is now based in London.