Faces of emigration

Last year Liudmyla Petrykivska, a native of Ukraine, won the silver medal in the international literary competition The Golden Pen of Rus’. Petrykivska, a writer and journalist who lives in Germany, where she publishes the newspaper Rostok po-russki, also won third place in an Internet writing competition for her story “Julia and Michael.” She is also a member of the International Union of Russian Writers.

Petrykivska is the author of several novels, including Zabud svoe vchera (Forget Your Yesterday), Chudesa nachal (The Miracles of Beginnings), and Vremia prevrashchenii (Time of Transformations), which were published in Ukraine. The third of these novels reflects the writer’s own destiny: she lived most of her life in Ukraine and later immigrated to Germany in the mid-1990s, where she made her name in the fields of literature and journalism.

You didn’t lose your creative self in emigration. A lot of people probably envy you.

“Life in immigration is difficult. It can drive you crazy unless you find something to occupy your mind. I am not one of those people who are satisfied with being surrounded by beautiful things and having good food. We have all this here, but the German mentality is very different and it is a great strain. I have made many Germans respect me and this is probably my greatest achievement.”

LOOKING FOR THE “BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS”?

These days, Ukrainian immigrants are known throughout Europe as people who are willing to do any kind of job, even the most menial one. You are one of a handful of people who are dismantling the Ukrainian immigrant stereotype. You have even appeared on German television.

“A German television crew filmed me recently and used the clip in a film about a Ukrainian woman who knows how to do things in a foreign country. I was asked to send copies of my books to university libraries in Munich and Hessen where they teach Russian. I often meet with readers. Copies of my books are at the local library and the Jewish community library. For the past 10 years I have held a literary salon at the Friends of the Russian Language Society. I encourage people to write, familiarize them with literature, and sometimes read from my new works. Occasionally my works are published in the journals Gamburg i my and Istoki. However, my work as a writer is by no means materialistic.”

Why?

“Germany has its own laws: here incomes are calculated per family. For example, if the wife works, then the husband is not paid any allowances. You know, financially this is worse than being unemployed. So I work only for the allowed sum of honoraria (it is quite small) and earn my living from advertising. Life is not easy. There is terrible unemployment in Germany and many young people don’t have jobs. Immigration has many pitfalls and no one should envy us.”

How did you start writing, and how does your husband feel about it?

“I wrote my first story for a Moscow-based youth newspaper when I was 16. It was entitled “The Hunt for the Bluebird.” I recalled it recently and wanted to write on this subject again, but now from an adult point of view. We are all chasing our bluebirds, which turn out to be gray, if not black, in broad daylight. I came to Chernivtsi in the late 1960s. As a design engineer at the local machine-building factory, I was also responsible for the in-house “radio newspaper.” When I switched jobs and started working at a rubber footwear factory, the director ordered me to work as a design engineer for three days and as an editor of the radio newspaper for two days. That lasted for eight years! I also wrote scripts for almost 10 years and did some programs for Chernivtsi television. I wrote for the regional newspapers Radianska Bukovyna and Molodyi Bukovynets. My beloved sister in Moscow told me to write down my fantasies, but there was no time, what with my work, husband, children, and mandatory public duties. You know, already at age 20 I was dreaming of putting everything aside to start writing fiction, but every time I told myself, “When I retire, I will start writing novels. But it happened earlier. My sister died in an accident in 1995, and this jolted me into writing my first novel, which I did in one go. Actually, I write very quickly. I work out the plot in my head and when it is ready, I start writing. I like watching people, making up their biographies and actions.

I hope that my husband is proud of what I have achieved. In fact, we achieved it together, because I would not have achieved anything without his support.”

DOING THE JOB YOU LOVE

You often write in the first person. Aren’t you afraid you will be identified with your characters, for example, with Larissa in Time of Transformations, whose life story is strikingly similar to yours?

“Being identified with my characters is interesting. I’m not afraid of anything. I am happy when my work turns out well. Because of financial difficulties, I can’t publish big works, but in my newspapers I can publish authors from Rostock, Hamburg, Wismar, and Schwerin. My mailbox is packed with requests. Recently I published a book by some of our local authors, a collection of poems entitled Voice of the Heart.”

Could you tell us about your newspaper Rostok po-russki? What makes it stand out among the many Russian-language newspapers in Germany?

“Yes, there are quite a few Russian newspapers in Germany. Our newspaper has been coming out for almost 10 years. It has traveled a winding road toward our readers’ recognition. Now we have a black- and-white and a color version, in two languages. I write most of the texts and edit the rest. The newspaper carries laws, news, and publishes a regular literary column with poems and stories by local authors and writers from other cities. It is distributed free of charge by volunteers. Once off the presses, the copies disappear in a week. It is read by Russians and Germans. This newspaper has helped me remain human. Many of those who immigrated with me have since gone into a decline. They gossip and envy people, whereas I am doing the job I love.”

You live in Germany and you have won a Russian prize. What about Ukraine?

“I am a citizen of Ukraine and I am proud of my nationality. Recently I renewed my passport. I closely follow events in Ukraine. About a year ago I added a column called Na aktualnu temu (Topical Subject). It is like a writer’s column where I voice my opinions on topics that catch my interest. For example, I wrote about the Ukrainian textbook Ethics for Grade 5. I like it very much and I wanted to rub it in the noses of the Germans, who are not doing anything about raising their children. I can obtain German citizenship because I have lived here a long time, but I don’t want to.”