Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex

Written by Oksana Zabuzhko

Narrated by Angela Dawe

Called “the most influential Ukrainian book for the 15 years of independence, Field Work in Ukrainian Sex by Oksana Zabuzhko is the tale of one woman’s personal revolt provoked by a top literary scandal of the decade. The author, a noted Ukrainian poet and novelist, explains: “When you turn 30, you inevitably start reconsidering what you have been taught in your formative years—that is, if you really seek for your own voice as a writer. In my case, my personal identity crisis had coincided with the one experienced by my country after the advent of independence. The result turned explosive: Field Work in Ukrainian Sex.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Translator: Halyna Hryn
• Release date: May 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781455895809

Oksana Zabuzhko

Oksana Zabuzhko is one of Ukraine’s most celebrated contemporary writers and the author of more than twenty books. She graduated from the Department of Philosophy of Kiev’s Shevchenko University and obtained her PhD in philosophy of arts. Since publishing her influential novel Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex (1996, published in 2011 in English translation by Halyna Hryn), she has been working as a freelance author. Zabuzhko lives in Kiev, where she and her partner, artist Rostyslav Luzhetskyy, operate a small publishing house. Zabuzhko’s books have been translated into fifteen languages. Among her numerous acknowledgments are a MacArthur Grant (2002), the Antonovych International Foundation Prize (2008), the Order of Princess Olga (2009), and the Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (2019). Her magnum opus, The Museum of Abandoned Secrets (2010, published in 2012 in English translation by Nina Murray), won the Angelus Central European Literary Prize (2013) for the best novel of Eastern and Central Europe.

Reviews for Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex

[Kelly St Pierre · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Such a caricature of victimhood nationalism that’s it’s hard to stomach, even as an intellectual exercise.

[yooperprof · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A brilliant Eastern European poet learns the hard way that it can be hell to be a relationship with a painter. Not a conventional novel, more a prose-poem "rant" with aspirations to be the Ukrainian "Second Sex." Zabushko riffs on Ukrainian history, men and women, and the neglible place of poetry in today's society. Just be aware: if you can't handle stream-of-consciousness style, you're not going to be able to follow "Ukrainian Sex." Kudos to AmazonCrossing for publishing a bold book in translation.