A DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR:
20 SHORT WORKS BY UKRAINIAN PLAYWRIGHTS

Edited by John Freedman

Translated by John Freedman, Natalia Bratus, John Farndon, Evgenia Kovryga

A visceral, fearless, and often heated collection of poetry, diary entries, short stories, dramatic monologues and dialogues, scripts, and social media exchanges. It is not always clear if these pieces are fiction or memoir, but either way, the personal tragedy is apparent in every single one . . . The combined talents of playwright and translator have created something quite extraordinary, free from cliché and the tired metaphors of war . . . The contributors to A Dictionary of Emotions in a Time of War prove not only that art is possible after a crime against humanity but also that it is possible during one. A Dictionary of Emotions in a Time of War will surely become one of the defining pieces of art from this horrific era of history. — Ada Wordsworth, Los Angeles Review of Books

These plays reflect the shock of a peaceful people who were invaded and relentlessly attacked, destroying all the cornerstones of daily life they had known. We read these plays as sympathetic bystanders, but also let us read them as kindly-meant warnings. One year ago, a vortex of irrationality overwhelmed a sovereign people who were nearly as confident of their peacetime security as those of us living in western Europe, America, and the free world still are. — Dana Rufolo, Plays International & Europe

Each work speaks to the others while remaining inherently its own. A collection of immediate and visceral responses that explore and explode the range of theater and performance. — Bryan Brown, University of Exeter, co-director of the cultural laboratory Maketank