You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Bloomsbury wins seven-way auction for young girl's diary account of flight from Ukraine
Bloomsbury has won a seven-way auction for You Don’t Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl From Ukraine, written by 12-year-old Yeva Skalietska.
Head of illustrated publishing Lara Hancock and commissioning editor Sally Beets acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Marianne Gunn O’Connor at The Marianne Gunn O’Connor Literary, Film and TV Agency. The diary will be published in October 2022 with a cover illustration inspired by Ukrainian folk art from Anastasia Stefurak and maps of Kharkiv, Ukraine and Europe by Olga Shtonda, a displaced Kharkiv native. Publication will be supported with a high-profile marketing and publicity campaign with a charitable partnership to be announced.
"Yeva’s story has touched us deeply," said Beets. "Her writing is immediate and important and we’re so honoured that Yeva chose to publish You Don’t Know What War Is with Bloomsbury. It is a book that everyone needs to read."
O’Connor added: "Yeva was super excited that Harry Potter’s publisher wanted to publish her diary. US rights were pre-empted by Claire Wachtel of Union Square Publishers on the flight back to New York from the London Book Fair. I’d like to thank my colleague Vicki Satlow for also offering her services for translation rights. Yeva’s diary is now sold in 12 languages and counting. This is a passion project for me and one that I’m committed to with my whole heart and soul. It’s truly an honour to be part of Yeva’s journey and to be able to make a difference.”
When Ukraine was invaded, Skalietska and her grandmother had to make the decision to flee to western Ukraine after seeking safety in a friend’s house in a safer part of Kharkiv. In Ukraine, Skalietska met a team of UK news reporters in a makeshift school hall shelter and, after telling them about her diary, became a feature in several news articles. The news team helped Skalietska and her grandmother cross the Hungarian border and eventually found a place for the pair to live in Dublin where they are being cared for by their host, school teacher Catherine Flanagan. Skalietska’s "striking" diary will chart her journey from Kharkiv to eventual safety in Dublin accompanied with personal photographs.
Hancock commented: "In You Don’t Know What War Is, we read about Yeva’s experience of the war in Ukraine in real time. Each diary entry is interspersed with personal photos Yeva took during her journey. Compelling and urgent, this book is a powerful document of a conflict few thought could happen, seen through the eyes of a child.”
“I began writing this diary to help me cope with my painful feelings and to write down my experiences so that years from now I can remember how my childhood was destroyed by war," explained Skalietska. "I’d like to thank the reporters from Channel 4 News — Paraic, Flavian, Tom, Delara and Nik, who have completely changed my life. I’m so thankful for my amazing agent Marianne Gunn O’Connor, who is filled with kindness and believes in my book wholeheartedly. The world needs more people like her. I am so happy to be published by Bloomsbury. Publishing my book will help me rebuild my life and I hope it will help readers understand, even a little bit, what war really is like. I want to dedicate my book to my beloved granny who has always done all she can to keep me safe.”
