Angelina Spilnyk on Writing Between Worlds: Memory, Migration, and the Search for Meaning

Angelina Spilnyk is a writer who believes that stories should not be simple. For her, literature is an opportunity to reveal new perspectives, challenge familiar ideas, and invite readers into a world where every layer hides another meaning. She is drawn to complexity, symbolism, and questions that rarely have straightforward answers.

Whether writing about memory, migration, war, technology, or identity, Spilnyk explores the connections between personal experience and the broader forces shaping our lives. Her work ranges from therapeutic fiction and poetry to speculative narratives that examine humanity's future and the societies we build.

Her stories have appeared in several Ukrainian anthologies, including Light Between the Lines, Beyond Yourself, and Prose of a New Era. Alongside her shorter works, she is currently developing her epic poem Peccata Mundi and her debut novel Steppe Stork.

About her literary journey, the challenges facing contemporary Ukrainian writers, the stories closest to her heart, and the mission she carries as an author, Angelina Spilnyk spoke with Drive Music Media.

Interviewer: Tell us about the beginning of your writing journey. What were your first steps in this field?

Angelina: Whenever I am asked this question, I always return to my childhood.

I was in the fourth grade, nine years old, and we had just started studying Kobzar in our language and literature class. I came home, and my grandfather proudly took a copy from our family library — one of the earliest editions — and handed it to me. For hours, I devoured the poetry from the first page to the last, imagining every image in my mind.

That night, my excited brain refused to sleep. Instead, it began weaving plots together, intertwining them into a strange new story. When I woke up from that unusual dream, I jumped out of bed and ran to my desk to write down part of the poem I had dreamed about. It was a retelling of Kateryna. It certainly was not a masterpiece, but I still remember the beginning:

Kateryna's love —
just a single sigh.
She walks into the garden
yet cannot truly wander.
She goes to fetch some water
yet brings none home.
Her beloved promised
that when he returned,
he would marry her...

There was more to it, but it is difficult to recall now. The important thing is that I did not force myself to write it. It simply came to me — a nine-year-old child overflowing with emotions from what she had read, dreaming in Shevchenko's imagery.

From that moment on, almost every school essay I wrote was accompanied by a poem or a longer poetic work.

However, despite my creative inclinations, I chose to study International Law, and in 2020 my writing entered a long period of silence. That silence was broken by the first air-raid sirens in February 2022. Emotions overwhelmed me, and the need to live in the present moment took over. Poetry returned, as did prose.

After being forced to leave Ukraine for Germany, I began writing an epic poem and applied for a literary residency at the House of the Author on the Greek island of Zakynthos, curated by Ukrainian writer Tais Zolotkovska.

Later came my move to the United Kingdom and my enrollment in a one-year writing program at RYBA under the mentorship of Lyubko Deresh, as well as a three-month poetry course. Before beginning my writing career, I believed that education and professional feedback would give me the confidence to take this path seriously.

In the end, I found exactly what I was looking for.

Interviewer: Tell us about the anthology Light Between the Lines. How did you learn about this project, and which of your works were included in it?

Angelina: Light Between the Lines is one of several anthologies published by RYBA. The organization selects works either through competitions — as was the case with Beyond Yourself — or through reviewed assignments completed during our courses and evaluated by writers Lyubko Deresh and Daria Lozovyk.

The anthology includes my short story Lollipops, which I consider a form of therapeutic writing. The story is partly inspired by my own life, childhood memories, and the experience of forming my first friendship.

I enjoy working with different perspectives — from reinterpreting personal experiences to analyzing contemporary history and imagining possible futures.

This anthology was also special because several of us came together to promote it. The wonderful Natalia Usevych helped prepare additional materials for the book's release. Our efforts paid off: the first print run of Light Between the Lines sold out in record time.

It became an interesting example of how young writers can unite around shared projects, combine their audiences, and significantly increase both sales and public interest.

In addition, my novella The Straw Spider was published in the anthology Prose of a New Era. We are also eagerly awaiting the release of several upcoming collections, including Born in Words, featuring my novella Empty Pages about the impact of abusive relationships on female inspiration; Fish Day, which includes Godiva, a story about reinterpreting images of the past and understanding shame in the modern world; and Unextinguished Voices, a collection of poetry dedicated to the war.

Interviewer: Tell us about your stories included in the psychological short fiction collection Beyond Yourself. Could you also share more about the process of working on the anthology?

Angelina: Beyond Yourself is a competition-based anthology published by RYBA.

The collection includes two of my stories that are completely different from one another.

The first, No One Is Coming, is a futuristic story about our growing dependence on artificial intelligence and automation, and the potential dangers that come with it.

The second, The Leg, explores the continuity of generations of Ukrainians. It serves as a reminder that war has run like a dark thread through the lives of every generation.

Both stories were deeply personal to me, and I cried many times while writing and editing them.

The first story is directly connected to my current work and the risks I see in society's growing reliance on artificial intelligence.

The second story is even more personal, as it imagines a conversation between my late great-grandfather and my late brother.

I have also submitted another deeply personal work to a separate competition, Witness 2022–2025. It is expected to be published simultaneously in Ukraine and the United Kingdom this year.

This time, I chose the epistolary form. It is another example of therapeutic writing and tells the story of my cousin, who spent three years and ten months in captivity.

I want stories like these to be heard abroad. To make them more accessible to international readers, I incorporated familiar cultural references, including a play by Anthony Horowitz, to help explain both the nature of russian aggression and the scale of the tragedy Ukrainians continue to endure.

Interviewer: Tell us about the process of creating your characters. Do they have real-life prototypes, or are they entirely products of your imagination?

Angelina: Many of my characters are composite portraits of real people. I believe my neurodivergence helps me identify and combine patterns in a unique way. In my shorter works of therapeutic fiction, the characters tend to be more simplified. However, when working on longer prose or poetry, I spend significantly more time developing detailed psychological profiles for each character.

Interviewer: What challenges do writers in Ukraine face today? Which of them have you personally encountered?

Angelina: There are many challenges. Two of the most significant are financial sustainability and distribution.

For most emerging writers, writing is often a financially unprofitable endeavor. Many people have probably seen reports about the earnings of Ukraine’s top ten writers in 2025. Poetry, by the way, tends to be even less financially rewarding than prose. If you divide some of those annual figures into monthly income, certain senior-level professionals in other industries earn considerably more.

This creates a problem because many writers are forced to combine their creative work with other professions in order to earn a decent living. As a result, both productivity and creative experimentation often suffer, since experimentation naturally comes with the risk of failure.

Distribution presents another challenge. Personally, I am particularly concerned about piracy, which has become especially damaging to Ukrainian literature since 2022. Large numbers of Ukrainians now live across the world, and literature should serve as a cultural bridge connecting them to their homeland. Often, digital formats are the only practical way to make books accessible to readers abroad.

Unfortunately, not all books can be distributed online because of concerns about piracy. This is a challenge I am already facing and one I intend to continue addressing. I would like to believe that meaningful changes will eventually come to the industry.

Interviewer: Is there a story you would never write? Why?

Angelina: I love experimentation, so this is a difficult question. However, I don't think I would want to write overly sweet, idealized stories — romantic comedies with perfect love stories and happy endings, or conventional horror and detective fiction where the plot and resolution follow predictable patterns.

For me, writing is first and foremost an opportunity to offer a new perspective. It is about depth and philosophy, about building a meaningful connection with the reader and inviting them into my peculiar world.

The emotions I hope to evoke are layered and complex. I want readers to sit with ambiguity, to reflect, and to discover something beneath the surface rather than being handed a simple answer

Interviewer: Which of your stories holds the most special significance for you? Why this particular one?

Angelina: That story has not yet been published. It is my epic poem, Peccata Mundi, a work about the world's tyrannies, where histories, cultures, and traditions from across the globe intertwine in a narrative about the present and the future of humanity.

I hope to complete the editing process very soon so that it can finally be published. It is especially meaningful to me because it was the first major project I began working on in 2022. Through this work, I want to explore the nature of tyranny, introduce readers to the histories and cultures of countries currently living under authoritarian systems, and highlight both the similarities and differences in the worldviews they produce.

It is a long journey, and I hope it will inspire readers to become more conscious, engaged, and proactive.

Interviewer: What projects are you working on right now?

Angelina: In addition to the poem, I am working on my first novel, Steppe Stork.

It is another deeply personal project centred on the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine. The novel is an autofictional story about my childhood and personal development growing up there.

I want to show readers the context in which my generation was raised, the vast steppe landscapes, local traditions, the influence of russia on the region, and even introduce the Buh–Inhul dialect into the text.

My goal is to transport readers through both time and place — to allow them to experience the region itself and feel the spirit of the era that shaped us.

Interviewer: What mission do you have as a Ukrainian writer? Why is it important to you?

Angelina: In reality, I have several missions, and they differ both in scale and audience. Some of them are particularly ambitious, but I believe that dreams should be bold. Otherwise, it is difficult to achieve anything meaningful.

First, I want Ukrainians to become more familiar with the Mykolaiv region. Many people have told me they have never visited it or have only passed through. I would love to become an ambassador for the region and encourage more people to discover it through local tourism.

I also want to write about Ukrainian emigrants from different generations and migration waves. I believe there is still not enough literature dedicated to this experience. Ukrainian identity should not be limited by borders. I would like to help maintain a bridge between Ukrainians abroad and those living in Ukraine, because emigrants often become everyday ambassadors of Ukraine around the world. They can be our voice during difficult times and support the country through education, advocacy, financial contributions, and intellectual work from every corner of the globe.

Finally, there is the dream of having a voice on the international stage.

It is an ambitious goal, but I genuinely hope to become a Ukrainian writer whose work is widely read around the world. I want to achieve this through science fiction, particularly stories connected to the ocean and technology, which are currently my primary areas of interest.

Not long ago, while reading Isaac Asimov on a pier in Southampton, I met an American man who had actually seen Asimov in person during his lifetime. We spoke briefly about science fiction and the development of the genre. In a way, it felt as though I knew Asimov through a single handshake.

Perhaps it is a small thing, but I believe in signs and symbolism. Whether that belief is justified or not, only time will tell.

Interviewer: If you could describe your stories with a single word, what would it be and why?

Angelina: Multilayered.

I enjoy writing in a way that encourages readers to peel back the layers of a story, almost like peeling an onion apart piece by piece. I like creating symbolic arcs that may not be immediately visible on a first reading.

Above all, I want my readers to think, analyse, and discover something new every time they engage with my work.

The interview was written by Asya Radko. Pictures were provided by Angelina Spilnyk.