Ukrainian poet, novelist, translator, public activist, frontman of such music bands as Zhadan i Sobaky / Zhadan and the Dogs and Mannerheim Line. Author of the novels Depeche Mode, Voroshilovgrad, Mesopotamia, Internat (The Orphanage), poetical collections Tsytatnyk (Quote Book), Ethiopia, Zhyttia Marii (Life of Maria), Tampliiery (Templars), Antenna and others.

Serhiy Zhadan’s literary works have received a lot of national and international awards and have been translated into more than twenty languages. They made the author one of the most famous contemporary Ukrainian writers. In 2007, he founded Serhiy Zhadan Charitable Foundation.

At the 10^th International Book Arsenal Festival, he is curating his own program for the first time this year.

‘I’m curious to talk about the border between the optimism and pessimism, the hope and despair, conducting these conversations between genres, styles and directions. Therefore, our talks will combine literature and music, interview and performance, privacy and openness. It seems to me that the most interesting things are on the border, on the break of format, outside the rules and traditions. Our conversations are like bookmarks between book pages: they immerse you in the text that you seem to know but aren’t always ready to come back.’