05Feb
05.02.2026 / January
Larissa Babij
Feb 5
In luxurious Lviv, where I’ve been since Sunday morning, I’ve only experienced one power outage. It lasted 2.5 hours.Read more →
Larissa Babij
Feb 5
In luxurious Lviv, where I’ve been since Sunday morning, I’ve only experienced one power outage. It lasted 2.5 hours.Read more →
I do like a controlled fire. New England, late November 2025.
October, a Kyiv metro train. All the seats are full. I am reading Valeriy Puzik’s Myslyvtsi za shchastiam (Hunting for happiness) — a collection of sketches from his military service in parts of Ukraine deoccupied from russian forces. To my left is a woman, middle-aged, neatly dyed hair, with a bag on her lap, looking at her phone. To my right — a man around 40, salt-and-pepper hair, buzz cut, good-looking. The smell of alcohol hangs in the air.
12.07.2025 / Independence or indecision by Larissa Babij
This 4th of July Claire Berlinski produced a piece of conceptual art by publishing the full text of the Declaration of Independence (with no additional comment). Eloquent, courageous, the declaration speaks for itself: a performative gesture that transformed a line of thought, stretching back to Aristotle, into action so potent that the nation it birthed lived a long, prosperous life of nearly 250 years.Read more →
26.05.2025 / This Is War by Larissa Babij
Thank you, friends, for writing to check in these past few days. It’s good to be reminded that you care. You’ve also helped me see that I should be the one to speak first if I don’t want Russia to speak for me. Read more →
13.05.2026 / Oh, where have you been . . . ?
Larissa Babij
May 13 2026
This spring in Ukraine is somber. Everywhere—vibrant green, flowers in bloom. But a late April freeze means meager fruit crops this year.
Where have I been? Too many train rides, new rooms to adjust to, endless gratitude to all the people who have taken me in this year so I can perform my intellectual labors in relative peace and good company.Read more →