Video and poetry: Israeli writers at Meridian Czernowitz 2022

Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE) is a long-standing sponsor of the Meridian Czernowitz International Poetry Festival, which took place this year on 2–4 September 2022.

Despite Russia’s ongoing criminal war against Ukraine, this year’s festival was held in person in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, to enthusiastic audiences and was also broadcast on Meridian Czernowitz's official Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The program included presentations dedicated to the Ukrainian-Jewish literary discourse as in past years. Ukrainian literary translator Yuliya Lyubka moderated a panel devoted to the poetry of Israeli poets Shachar Mario Mordechai and Eran Tzelgov; Soviet dissident Josef Zissels, head of VAAD (the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine), discussed Ukraine’s ethnic communities against the backdrop of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine; and Ihor Pomarantsev, Meridian co-founder, journalist, poet, participated in a discussion about the war.

Below is a video of the discussion and poetry readings with Shachar Mario Mordechai and Eran Tzelgov in Ukrainian, English, and Hebrew, as well as selected translations of their works into Ukrainian by Yuliya Luybka. Meridian Czernowitz’s Facebook page offers an enjoyable selection of photographs from this year’s festival: and Portraits of Meridian Czernowitz 2022 by Julia Weber.

Meridian Czernowitz, Poetry Readings: Israel, 4 September 2022
Participants:  Shachar Mario Mordechai and Eran Tzelgov with moderator and translator, Yuliya Lyubka

Shachar Mario Mordechai’s poetry in Ukrainian-language translation can be read here.

Eran Tzelgov’s poetry in Ukrainian-language translation can be read here.

Photos: Portraits of Meridian Czernowitz 2022 by Julia Weber