A personal letter to my readers

Honest thoughts that I have struggled to put into words for a long time.

Photo by Phil Baum.

Hello dear friends,

I’m sending this mid-week letter to thank you for your support and to show you behind-the-scenes of this newsletter. I also want to share the thoughts I have been struggling to put into words for a long time.

From My Heart is a newsletter where the silenced Eastern European voices can be heard, often for the first time, by the English-speaking audience. Each month, I publish an article about a prominent person from Eastern Europe that you most likely haven’t known about before. I focus mainly on people from Ukraine and Belarus, as these are the countries that are close to my heart and where my husband’s family and mine come from. However, I intend to broaden it to other countries in the future.

It is the year 2025, yet the Western world continues to largely overlook Eastern Europe and portray it with damaging stereotypes as a result of Russian colonialism and propaganda. It’s very hard to find English translations of the majority of Ukrainian writers, while new English editions of Russian classics are published every year. At the same time, Belarusian writers and poets are completely unknown to the world. After centuries of oppression, first by the Russian empire, then by the Soviet Union, and now by modern Russia, the information about achievements of Eastern Europeans are either buried in the archives, destroyed, or appropriated. That’s why I find it so important to share their stories, translate their works, and show the world the immense talent that has been hidden for so long.

I published the story of a Belarusian poet, Larysa Hienijuš (1910-1983), whose honesty and strength continue to pose a danger to the dictatorship regime decades after her death. I found unique collections of her poems, most of which were handwritten by the author, that were smuggled out of Belarus in order to save them. I was absolutely captivated by Larysa Hienijuš’s talent and began translating her poems and publishing them in this newsletter. I also made recordings of her poems in Belarusian so you can hear the originals, even though I'm absolutely mortified recording myself and speaking to the public. However, the desire to share her words with you was bigger than my fears and anxiety. I posted the most recent translation and recording a few months ago.

I shared the story of a genius Ukrainian artist, Kateryna Bilokur (1900-1961), who had an extraordinary gift for painting but was forbidden to do it for more than 30 years. Her paintings were exhibited in the Louvre and praised by the world’s most famous artists. However, living in isolation and poverty in Soviet-occupied Ukraine, Kateryna Bilokur didn’t know about her success abroad, and her artwork was used as pig trays by her neighbors. It is almost impossible to find good-quality reproductions of Kateryna Bilokur’s paintings online, so I bought the book from Ukraine and scanned the images so you can see her work.

I posted the story of a talented Ukrainian composer, Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921), and how his composition Shchedryk became the beloved Christmas classic Carol of the Bells. It was made possible only thanks to the bravery and resilience of the Ukrainian choir, who, despite the obstacles, brought the song to the world. Very few people know about the origin of the Carol of the Bells and the story of the Ukrainian talent and courage behind it. I analyzed dozens of sources, translated them from Ukrainian, and found unique recordings in order to share this fascinating story.

Last week, I posted an article about Lesia Ukrainka, one of the most legendary and iconic Ukrainian writers. I spent two weeks gathering all the information and used more than 50 sources to write the essay. I found rare books from the library archives, unique historical photos, and publications available only in Ukrainian. I ended up translating dozens of articles in order to share Lesia Ukrainka’s story with you. I’m currently working on the second part, as it’s impossible to fit such a person as Lesia Ukrainka into one essay. The article is coming this Saturday.

Some people may think, why bother doing all of that when one can read a Wikipedia article or do a quick Google search? However, Wikipedia is not only very biased but often has mistakes, even in the most basic facts. English articles about Eastern European culture and history are very scarce, the translations and reproductions of the works of famous people are almost non-existent, and it takes an enormous amount of time and energy to collect, translate, analyze, and transform all the available information into an essay that is easy and interesting to read.

It is a common belief that if you do meaningful work that you enjoy doing, you have to do it for free because you are already being paid by the feeling of fulfillment and purpose. However, these feelings do not pay the bills. It makes creative and important work unsustainable in the long run, as you have to spend most of your time doing other things to survive. I often find myself writing at night and finishing in the early morning, skipping sleep, as it’s the only time when I have an opportunity to do it. As you may imagine, it takes a huge toll on my health and negatively affects every aspect of my life.

Yet, despite all the challenges, I would love to continue sharing the stories of Eastern Europeans with you and with the world. Not only does it have a very deep personal meaning of breaking free from Russian colonialism, but a much broader one, considering the current events. There are so many untold stories from Eastern Europe that teach us how to fight for freedom and humanity and that inspire and bring hope, even in the darkest of times. I want to continue sharing them with you, but I can only do it with your support.

If you find value in my work and believe that the stories of Eastern Europeans must be told, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Only your support can allow me to continue doing the work that inspires, resonates, and brings change and to keep the articles open and free to everyone.

If you don’t have the means to become a paid subscriber, please spread the word about my newsletter. It would help more people find my work.

Thank you so much for your support and for being among my readers!

Warmly,

Darya