Ayrshire's renowned literary event, The Boswell Book Festival, will return next month with a unique launch event in aid of a special cause.
Critically acclaimed writer of long and short fiction, non-fiction and plays, Catherine Czerkawska will join with Ukrainian refugee, Liudmila Proniakina, to raise £3,000 for the Rotary Club Ukrainian Crisis Taskforce.
The world’s only Festival of Biography and Memoir will host the event on May 12 where two refugee stories, one current and one historical, will be shared with visitors.
Catherine was prompted to write her book, The Last Lancer, by the refugee crisis in Lviv and she became determined to uncover her own family’s story.
Her father, Julian, was born in Lviv in 1926, while it was a part of Poland. He was the son of a Polish lancer, one of the famous cavalrymen who carried forward the legacy of the hussar knights.
Soviet annexation and then, in 1941, the German occupation of Lviv changed the idyllic childhood for young Julian. At the age of 18, he was sent to a labour camp.
Fortunate to escape after the war, eventually he made his way to the UK where he married and started a family, but an ache remained for the people and places of his childhood memories.
Just over 80 years later, Liudmila and her six-year-old daughter, Margo, also fled from Ukraine. She arrived in Ayr where her sister was working as a dressmaker to a joyous welcome as both thought they would never see each other again.
Caroline Knox, Festival Directo,r said: “Like Liudmila, Catherine’s father left everything behind. I had read of Ukrainians who had recently come to Ayrshire and thought how incredibly interesting it would be to hear Catherine’s story alongside the story of someone who had arrived recently."
Chaired by Georgina Adam, whose late husband was Polish, the event will have Lara Banks on hand to do simultaneous translation when needed.
The event will start at 5.30pm and will last for an hour. It will be a relaxed conversation with time for the audience to ask questions at the end.
Caroline added: “Just as the generation who fought in World War II are no longer around to tell us of the impact of war in their lives, we suddenly find ourselves witness to war in Ukraine with all the parallels this brings to the past.
"It is all too easy to read accounts of living in a warzone as we go about our daily lives but it becomes different when it is bought home to us by the real-life story of a family such as Liudmila’s."
Catherine was born in Yorkshire, of Polish and Irish parentage, she has spent most of her life in Scotland, with time also spent working in Finland, Poland and the Canaries.
She said: “It’s a project I’ve been working on for a long time, since before my Polish refugee father died in 1995, but lockdown provided me with the opportunity to spend some time focusing on it.
“Of course, very sadly, it became even more relevant with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
"In fact some of my relatives are still living in Lviv and were affected by the invasion, including an elderly man who had spent many years in a Gulag after WW2 and was determined that the Russians weren’t going to disrupt his life yet again. He died just after Christmas, and I think about him a lot.”
Meanwhile Liudmila, 47, who was born in Sumy, Ukraine has now found refuge in Ayr with her daughter Margo.
She said: “My husband drove me and our daughter to the Ukrainian border, from there we had to walk to the Polish border ourselves until other people picked us up and drove us to Polish bridge Dolgobychuv.
"We spent three hours there and were given warm clothes, tea and food.
“Volunteers took us to the airport and we took a flight to France where we have spend five days with a French family who provided us with a room for which we were very grateful and after we took a train to London and another plane to Glasgow there my sister picked us up.
“We have been to Ayr a couple of times before so I was very happy to relocate here and reunite with my sister Olga.
“My daughter started to feel safe, she started sleeping in her own bed, got used to a new school, language and has new friends.
“She is scared to go back to Ukraine as she remembers all the noises from the explosions. I don't think it is safe for us to go back yet but we want to see our family in the nearest future as we miss them.
“I was surprised when I got invited to the book festival to share my story. I know that some people experienced worse things since the war started and we are lucky to be here in Ayr but I think it will help local people to understand more about the war.”
The event will cost £10 with all proceeds going towards the Rotary Club Ukrainian Crisis Taskforce. Tickets are available here.
Boswell Book Festival will take place from May 12 until May 14 and will have a variety of events to attend.
Full programme can be viewed here.
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