Discussion 'Documentary Writing and Memory: The Victoria Amelina Programme'

In 2025, INDEX launched a programme that is both documentary and commemorative — the Victoria Amelina Fellowship. In their non-fiction works, the programme’s fellows document the causes and consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine. This way, they continue the legacy of the murdered Ukrainian writer and war crimes investigator after whom the programme is named.

On 29 May, during the XІV Book Arsenal, in conversation with INDEX director Sasha Dovzhyk, fellows, and writers Anna Gruver (Her empty places, Real Estate), Lucy Fulford (The Exiled) and Kateryna Yakovlenko (Donbas as a metafor) — will discuss documentary writing today. What are the specific challenges of documenting an ongoing war? Is there a place for metaphor and styliіation in war writing? How do the writers’ works engage with the themes of place, landscape and home? The discussion will also touch on the topics of memory and the influence of Victoria Amelina’s work on documentary literature.

• Discussion: 'Documentary Writing and Memory: The Victoria Amelina Programme'
• Date: 29 May, 12:30
• Location: Discussion stage

Discussion is held in partnership with International Renaissance Foundation