Ukrainian
writers
at war

The Culture Fights Back project to share stories of artists and civil society representatives who have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Read the stories of Ukrainian writers and poets who continue to talk about the realities of war, still publishing books and poetry while risking their lives every single day.

Artem Chekh

Artem Cherednyk (known under the pen name, Artem Chekh) is a Ukrainian writer. He returned to the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend our freedom, in the wake of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine. 

“I knew that I would join the army. I heard ‘Grad’ missiles firing, my wife and son were sitting in the hallway and I was lying in the bedroom and thought, yes, tomorrow I’m going to the army,” said Artem.

The author of over 15 novels (most notably, District D (2019) about his hometown Cherkasy), autobiographies, documentaries and non-fiction works, Artem’s books have been translated into German, English, Polish and Czech. In 2007, Artem won the all-Ukrainian “Urban Youth Novel” competition with his novel You won’t find this in Yandex. Artem was also Chief Editor on two projects: “94 days. Euromaidan through the eyes of TSN” and “War through the eyes of TSN.” His novel Who are you? received the “BBC Book of the Year” award in 2021. Artem writes about his front line military experience in the book Absolute Zero (2020), for which the writer received both national and international awards.

Currently, Artem is serving on the northern border of Ukraine. His unit primarily protects the Kyiv region after the terrifying events of March and April, 2022. Even during his military service, Artem continues to write down his thoughts on the war – such as in the Notes of an Introvert (2022) collection of stories. In November 2022, together with another Ukrainian writer and soldier, Artem Chapeye, he participated in the Munich Literary Festival with a special Ukrainian programme, under the curation of Ukrainian writer Tanya Malyarchuk.

Photos:
Artem Cheh Facebook-page