Writers in Northern Ireland are to show their support for authors in Ukraine by reading their works at an event in Belfast on Sunday.
Organised by the award-winning novelist Jan Carson, the lineup will include the Booker Prize-winning author Anna Burns as well as Jan Carson, Glenn Patterson, Stephen Sexton, Dara McAnulty, Leontia Flynn and Kabosh Theatre Company.
They will read work by Ukraininan novelists Olena Stiazhkina and Haska Shyyan and novelist and short story writer Oksana Zabuzhko.
Also featured will be poets Myroslav Laiuk, Oksana Lutsushna and Ilya Kaminsky, as well as playwright and filmmaker Natalya Vorozhbit.
Writers for Ukraine will take place at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and will also be streamed online.
All proceeds will go to the Red Cross Ukraine appeal, with a donation platform for those who wish to donate but who cannot attend the show.
The venue, staff, performers, promotional materials, photography and streaming facility were all donated free following an appeal by Carson on social media.
“Like many others around the world, writers in Northern Ireland have been heartbroken by the situation in Ukraine and have struggled to find a tangible way to respond,” Ms Carson said.
“We hope this reading will be a small but meaningful gesture which really resonates.
“It’s an absolute honour to stand with our brave, tenacious and incredibly talented fellow writers in Ukraine as we share their words, their frustrations and hopes for the future of their home,” she said.
Jimmy Fay, the executive producer of the Lyric Theatre, said it was “proud to support Jan’s initiative and her fellow writers in solitary with Ukraine.
“It’s important that our theatre offers a platform for our artists to respond. Ukraine has a rich theatrical and performative history and currently theatres there are a place of sanctuary.
“It’s heart breaking to see an army invading a country in our modern era. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go to the Ukrainian people and we wish for a swift and peaceful resolution to this crisis,” he said.
Ticket donations are available from lyrictheatre.co.uk priced at £12, £25 or £50.
