Oleh Shynkarenko’s novel Kaharlyk began on Facebook as a series of bulletins from an alternative reality. He created fragments of concrete music, mixing sounds such as Serbian liturgical melodies, washing machines and cows mooing to develop a soundscape for his world. The book is written entirely in blocks of 100 words. Andrei Kurkov, a Penguin published author, describes it as a “hologrammatic” novel, a series of “beautifully crafted puzzles”. But the book tells a story. It is set in Ukraine after a war with Russia. A man has lost his memory because the Russian military has used his brain to control military satellites. He regains consciousness in a mysterious hospital-like building and begins a pilgrimage to find his past. He journeys to Kaharlyk, a town where time has stood still following the testing of an experimental weapon.
The book is an Odyssey as magical as Alice’s tumble through the looking glass or Gulliver’s first footprint on the sands of Lilliput. Oleh wrote the novel while Ukraine was undergoing the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 to 2015. Ukrainians piled barricades of burning tyres on the streets of their capital and overthrew a dictator who had an estate roamed by Ostriches, and palaces that would have made Nero blush. Ukraine’s literature is routinely ignored.
This book will help the country’s voice be heard. When we have translated Kaharlyk we will publish it via Kalyna Language Press. We will use our contacts in literary circles and the book trade to make sure that the novel reaches as wide an audience as possible. It’s going to be a crazy ride. You have until 20 March 2016 to join us here: www.kickstarter.com
