17 Facts About Lina Kostenko

Lina Vasylivna Kostenko is a Ukrainian poet, journalist, writer, publisher, and former Soviet dissident.

Lina Kostenko has been granted numerous honours, including an honorary professorship at Kyiv Mohyla Academy, honorary doctorates of Lviv and Chernivtsi Universities, the Shevchenko National Prize, and the Legion of Honour.

Lina Vasylivna Kostenko was born to a family of teachers in Rzhyshchiv.

Lina Kostenko was one of the first and most important figures of the Sixtiers movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Lina Kostenko's poetry is typically lyrical and sophisticated, but relies heavily on aphorisms, colloquialisms, and satirical language, and is typically critical of authoritarianism.

Lina Kostenko has been credited with reviving lyric poetry in the Ukrainian language, and has been called one of Ukraine's greatest female poets.

Lina Kostenko was criticized by Soviet critics for her ideologically nonconformist attitude and her conscious avoidance of the principles of socialist realism imposed by the of the Communist Party.

In 1965, Lina Kostenko signed a letter of protest against arrests of the Ukrainian intelligentsia.

Lina Kostenko was present at the trial of Mykhailo Osadchyi and Myroslava Zvarychevska in Lviv.

In May 1966, in the National Writers' Union of Ukraine, where the "nationalist outlaws" were labelled, a part of the youth held the ovation of Lina Kostenko, who defended her position and defended Ivan Svitlichny, Opanas Zalyvaha, Myhajlo Kosiv and Bohdan Horyn.

Lina Kostenko worked "in the drawer", knowing that her works were not going to be published.

In 1973 Lina Kostenko was blacklisted by Secretary of the Central Committee on Ideology of the Communist Party of Ukraine Valentyn Malanchuk.

Lina Kostenko was awarded the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of the Ukrainian SSR in 1987.

Lina Kostenko wrote collections of poems Originality and Garden of Unthawed Sculptures, a collection of poems for children, titled The Lilac King.

In 1991, Lina Kostenko moved to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, saying that she wished to "gain strength," though she cautioned others against doing so.

The release of Notes was intended to be followed by a book tour across Ukraine, but abruptly ended in Lviv, allegedly after Lina Kostenko had been offended either by Lviv residents selling tickets to the presentation or by critics who disliked the book.

Amidst the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lina Kostenko criticized the usage of obscene language and publicly opposed its appearance in the media, on billboards, and postage stamps.