Artem Čech

This collection of mini short stories or literary reports, published in Ukrainian in 2017, depicts in chronological order the entire period of the author’s frontline experience from his joining the army to his returning to civilian life. He recounts his wartime engagement in eastern Ukraine with detachment, without any pathos or exaggeration, but with an almost lyrical touch. The author’s words are, “I did not want to put any pathos or heroism into my view of the war, into my experiences, because it was ordinary life for us. We did ordinary things. There was no need for heroism, and it was necessary to live.”

Published by Fra, 2022

Artem Čech (* 1985), (his real name is Artem Oleksandrovych Cherednyk) is a Ukrainian novelist and essayist. He made his literary debut in 2007 and has nine fiction and non-fiction books to his credit. His wartime experience has greatly influenced his work. Between 2015-2016, he spent ten months in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The war in Donbas, in which he participated, changed his view of life, death, and the everyday world once and for all.