“I dream of a revived Ukrainian paradise and that in the words “native land” we hear “paradise” and in the word “Ukraine” we hear “paradise”, because these are our paradises,” said poet, publisher and Shevchenko Prize laureate Ivan Malkovych in an interview with “The Ukrainians Media”. On May 10, Ivan Malkovych turned 65 years old, and his legendary publishing house “A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA” is already 35 years old.
For the Via Carpatia International Forum community, the figure of Ivan Malkovych is special, because in 2019 he became the laureate of the Stanisław Vincenz Prize “For Humanistic Service and Development of Regions”, which is traditionally awarded within the framework of the forum. Malkovych’s many years of work is the embodiment of this award, because every book he publishes gives back to Ukrainians their cultural codes.
Malkovych emphasized that the transformation and courage of Ukraine during the years of full-scale invasion amazes the world.
“At the beginning of the war, we asked to close the sky to us, and now many wealthy countries are already asking us for this, and it sounds like a fairy tale about an ugly duckling, which eventually becomes a beautiful swan in the eyes of the world. And all because we are fighting on the side of truth and light.”
Despite the fact that millions of Ukrainians ended up abroad due to the war, Malkovych is convinced that although some have already managed to settle in new places, many people will still experience this “paradise from afar” and return to rebuild the country.
“So God grant us and our boys who are fighting to hold on and win. I believe that with God’s help everything will be like that,” concluded Malkovych.
