Rock star and poet Serhiy Zhadan is fighting for the future of Ukrainian culture

AS RUSSIAN SHELLS RAIN DOWN ON UKRAINE, the country’s most beloved poet cannot write. The inspiration is there: the tale of a schoolteacher who shepherded 10 children away from the front line after being told by the Ukrainian military that there was no hope of escape; old friends in Kharkiv who risked their lives to get neighbors to a shelter; or the discovery of mass graves across Ukraine. Over the past 20 years, Serhiy Zhadan has written more than a dozen books of poetry and seven novels; he’s also part of the ska-punk band Zhadan and the Dogs.

Now, though, it’s impossible to get the ink to flow; everything is happening too fast. “I can’t write