Ukrainian poet Artur Dron΄ published his debut collection Dormitory No. 6 in 2020. His second collection We Were Here (Ukraine: Old Lion, 2023) details his experience on the frontline as a soldier in the Ukrainian army; however, as Dron΄ says in his 2024 Literary Hub interview, the poems ‘were written at the front, but they are not about the war. They are about people who love more than they fear.’ Yuliya Musakovska translated We Were Here into English (UK: Jantar, 2025). All proceeds from both editions go towards Voices of Children, a foundation that provides assistance to children affected by the war. Musakovska also coordinates the Ukrainian Wartime Poetry Project in collaboration with the University of Exeter and has published six poetry collections, including The God of Freedom (2021), which was translated into English and shortlisted for the Lviv UNESCO City of Literature Award, and Stones and Nails (2024), her latest book. During her recent trip to the Lviv BookForum 2025, poet Fiona Benson was unable to pin down either Dron΄ or Musakovska for an interview, so this exchange took place by email afterwards.

This conversation took place at a cocktail bar in Peckham. Clare Pollard had the Dirty Bellini and Helen Bowell had the Burnt Cherry Amaretto Sour.

And dark and true and tender is the North
– Alfred, Lord Tennyson

I caught up with Selima in Lyme Regis, on the Jurassic Coast, where she has lived for the past forty years. It was a blustery December day, and we met in the lounge of the Alexandria Hotel, sinking into two [...]