Megan Buskey

Notably overlooked in literary nonfiction, Kyiv serves as a powerful symbol of Ukraine’s diversity and complexity. During her IWM fellowship, Megan Buskey will work on a manuscript that captures episodes (or “frescoes,” in homage to Sergei Parajanov’s suppressed film about wartime Kyiv) across the city’s many centuries of prominence in Europe. Reflecting an interest in Ukrainian literature and art, the book will also be shaped by Buskey’s long history with the city, which she first began visiting as a student more than 20 years ago. The manuscript aims to define Kyiv and Ukraine for English-language readers as more than just a site of war, but as a place with a rich and diverse history and culture that deserve to be understood on their own terms.