The Hoboken Historical Museum and Poet-in-Residence Danny Shot are proud to host “Red Kalyna: Poetry for a Free Ukraine.” This literary event will take place this Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 4pm at the Hoboken Historical Museum, located at 1301 Hudson Street. The event is free and open to the public. It will also be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook @HobokenMuseum.

The red viburnum shrub, or “kalyna,” is a symbol of Ukrainian resistance dating back to ancient times. She is immortalized in a traditional Ukrainian song that was recently recorded by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the band BoomBox and member of the Ukrainian armed forces. The song lyrics include:

And we’ll take that red kalyna and we will raise it up,

And, hey-hey, we shall cheer up our glorious Ukraine!

“Red Kalyna: Poetry for a Free Ukraine” will feature four poets: Bob Holman, Olena Jennings, Vasyl Makhno, and Vera Sirota. The Hoboken Historical Museum is proud to stand with Ukraine and raise up the red kalyna with poetry. Slava Ukraini!

Bob Holman is a founder of the Bowery Poetry Club and the Endangered Language Alliance, published 17 books, and taught at Princeton, Columbia, NYU and Bard. His Jewish grandparents, Solomon and Sophie Geller, emigrated from Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine in 1916. (Photo credit: Chris Felver.)

Olena Jennings is the author of the poetry collection The Age of Secrets (Lost Horse Press, 2022) and the chapbook Memory Project. Her novel Temporary Shelter was released in 2021 from Cervena Barva Press. (Photo credit: Iryna Sosnovska.)

Vasyl Makhno is a Ukrainian poet, prose writer, essayist and translator. He is the author of fourteen collections of poetry and most recently One Sail House (2021). (Photo credit: Justin Warsh.)

Vera Sirota is the proud granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants and author of We Bow to No One (Bottlecap Press, 2023). She serves as the Communications Associate for the Hoboken Historical Museum and is a co-founder of the West of Willow poetry and music collective. (Photo credit: Eric Michael Sirota.)