Ukrainian writer Mariia Kosian: Each of us carries countless stories within, and I want to share a part of those stories with the world

Mariia Kosian is a Ukrainian writer and the author of two novels, "When It Rains in the City of N" and "A Hero Instead of Me", the latter of which is set to be released soon. Her literary journey began with academic work at university, which became the foundation for her first major novel, "When It Rains in the City of N". In January 2025, the author will present her second book, "A Hero Instead of Me", which has been available for pre-order for several weeks now. The book is being published by one of the largest publishing houses in Ukraine – "Vikhola". At the heart of one of the storylines lies the concept of parallel worlds, each containing different versions of the same people. The protagonist, named Hero, is unique – there are no copies of him in any of the worlds. He can travel between these worlds, a rare ability only possessed by individuals known as “Flyers”. The second storyline is about Ukraine in 2041. Mariia shared with Drive Music Media her journey as a writer, the birth of her second novel's concept – created before but set to be published during russia's full-scale war against Ukraine – and the message she hopes to convey through her work.

Interviewer: How and when did you realize that you wanted to dedicate your life to writing?

Mariia: My journey has been quite a long one because, in general, I started writing back in childhood. My first attempts were in primary school when I was about 7 or 8 years old. At the age of 12, I had already written some pretty good poems. In fact, I was greatly supported by both my family and my teachers. I guess the first time I seriously thought about becoming a writer was when I was in the 10th grade. Earlier, in the 5th grade I had written an essay about what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I wrote that I wanted to be connected to literature because I loved reading so much and used to create fascinating stories. I practically lived through books, so by the age of 15–16, I started writing prose quite seriously. The question arose – where would I apply for university? I was an excellent student, a straight-A student, so I had the opportunity to get into any program. However, after talking with my parents, they supported me and told me to choose what I loved, as that's where I would succeed. So, in my final year of school, I started writing even more. I submitted one of my stories for the "Dnipro" magazine award. The "Dnipro" magazine award was quite prestigious at the time. Later, when I came to apply to university, the question arose – if I love writing, where should I go? I thought I should pursue journalism. But as I was heading to the journalism department, I accidentally came across a table promoting literary creativity, Ukrainian language and literature. After talking to those accepting applications, I realized that it was truly a specialization in writing, where they actually teach you to become a writer. So, I decided to apply there.

Interviewer: Tell us about your book "When It Rains in City N". How did the story come to life?

Mariia: We had an assignment in our literary creativity class to write a creative academic piece. Typically, people write academic works analyzing someone else’s creativity, but in our case, we had to create our own text. For my bachelor’s thesis, I wrote a novella, which I titled "When It Rains in City N". It wasn’t a novel; it was a shorter text. However, my academic supervisor, the well-known writer Volodymyr Danylenko, read the novella and liked it. That’s when I was told that it was time for me to start writing larger-scale prose. After that, I started working on the book, submitted it to a competition, and it became one of the winners of the competition. Eventually, it was published.

Interviewer: Was it difficult for you to choose the genre? Did you decide right away or did it come with experience?

Mariia: The first book is a dystopian novel. The novel was published in 2016. At that time, this genre wasn't that popular in Ukraine, so my book was one of the first in this genre. I wouldn’t say I chose it intentionally, it’s just that the idea for the plot came to me. I don’t limit myself to one genre, the idea for the plot just emerged.

Interviewer: Tell us about the plot of your first book: who are its characters?

Mariia: It’s going to be quite difficult because it was almost 10 years ago, but I’ll try. It all started as a novella, then the idea came to expand the story, and I began writing. It’s important to note that during the two years that I was writing the novel, I had changed a lot and matured as an author. From this novella, I only took some ideas and rewrote it. Overall, my novel consists of three parts. The first part depicts a world with a caste system – people are divided based on their abilities. What’s interesting is that they are born into their caste and cannot change it. The main character is a girl from the scientist caste. Due to certain circumstances, she has to flee because she is being pursued, and she is saved by two boys who live outside of society. In the second part, the same characters continue, having already gone through several trials. New characters are introduced here as well. It’s important to note that all the events take place in the future – at the end of the 22nd century. As a result of a certain governmental coup, a new dystopian system emerges – Universalism, reminiscent of the Soviet Union. Ultimately, the protagonists triumph, leading to the formation of a new state system, which will be explored in the third part. In the third part, the Great Mother and the Inquisitor come to power, ruling in six-month intervals. Additionally, certain people are confined to ghettos. My book showcases various dystopian systems, with people striving each time to create something better. Some realities repeat themselves over and over again in a new cycle. But the hope of creating something better remains.

Interviewer: Tell us about your new book "A Hero Instead of Me". How did the idea for the title come about? Who are its main characters? What came first – the title or the idea?

Mariia: Initially, the title was provisional. Before the full-scale war began, in 2021, I wrote another novel – a rather lengthy one – about a writer who travels with his girlfriend to an island to test a certain product designed to help him write a novel. It’s not set in the distant future; the events of this novel take place in the 2030s. When I finished working on it around New Year’s in 2021, I set it aside. In January-February, I started rereading it, and many aspects didn’t appeal to me. I felt it needed to be rewritten entirely. A few weeks later, the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine began. At that time, I was in Kyiv, and we didn’t evacuate. During those events, many people experienced emotional and psychological breakdowns, but for me, there was a strong desire to live and create. When the immediate threat subsided and russian forces retreated from Kyiv in early April, I had the idea to completely rework the story. The concept of testing a product on an island remained, but it became only a part of the new novel. In "A Hero Instead of Me", there are two storylines. One of them revolves around a writer who travels with his girlfriend to an island to test an artificial intelligence that he hopes will help him write a book.

The other takes place in modern fantasy worlds that strongly resemble contemporary Ukraine. There are seven copies of the world, each with seven copies of every person. This explores the theme of parallel worlds. However, there are people whose parents either didn’t meet or separated in one of these worlds, so they exist only in a single world. These individuals are called “Flyers” because they can travel between worlds. The main character of this storyline is Hero – this is his name. He’s a history teacher. During the early days of the full-scale war, I had a dream where I was trying to escape from someone by jumping from one world to another, doing a somersault. That’s exactly how “Flyers” move between worlds. This dream inspired the new concept for the novel.

Interviewer: What message do you want to convey to people through your writing?

Mariia: I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Speaking about "A Hero Instead of Me", it’s a story about understanding one’s own identity, about the connection between the past, present, and future. It’s a story about multiple worlds, but also about Ukraine in 2041 and, essentially, about imagination and the fantasy of salvation. As for my general message – honestly, I adore the light in people. I can walk down the street, stop for a moment, and despite the war, simply observe how the leaves tremble. The world is, in fact, so full of life, brimming with events. I deeply love the world, and each of us carries countless stories within. You could write a million books about every single person. I want to share a small part of those stories with the world.

Pictures were taken by Nastia Telikova