Cultural initiatives bringing Ukraine to American audiences

Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Ukrainian article.

More than 35 years since Ukrainian independence, Americans’ perceptions of Ukraine have evolved — and that change has accelerated in recent years.

In the 1990s, Ukraine was often viewed through a Russian lens. But after nearly five years of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian culture is increasingly being recognized in the United States on its own terms — as a vibrant and competitive cultural force.

Americans are studying Ukrainian, reading Ukrainian authors in translation, attending Ukrainian concerts and enrolling their children in programs created by Ukrainians.

What is driving this growing interest? Voice of America looks at five Ukrainian initiatives attracting growing American audiences.

Bringing Ukrainian books to American readers

New York-based nonprofit HUCUS Foundation, in partnership with the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, has launched the Ukrainian Literature and Scholarship Program to support the translation and publication of Ukrainian literature in English.

The program began with a $250,000 budget and its first publication, Felix Austria, a historical Gothic novel by prominent Ukrainian writer Sofia Andrukhovych, translated by Vitaly Chernetsky.

HUCUS founder and director Oleksii Prokopenko says the program aims to introduce Ukrainian culture to American academics and decisionmakers.

Craft: Ukrainian culture in English

Craft is an English-language website and print magazine featuring Ukrainian writers, musicians, photographers and other artists.

Co-founder and editor Kateryna Kazimirova says the project quickly attracted readers in the United States and Britain, followed by Germany and other European countries.

The platform focuses on interviews with Ukrainian artists. One of its projects brought prominent writers Andriy Kurkov and Serhiy Zhadan together to interview each other.

Kazimirova says American readers are discovering a culture they believe has been overlooked for too long.

Ukrainian music to American children

The Washington-based Ukrainian music group Gerdan was founded by Grammy-winning musician Andriy Pidkivka and his wife, musician and DC Music Academy co-founder Solomiya Gorokhivska.

The group has performed for diplomats and politicians at institutions including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Gorokhivska, Gerdan’s vocalist and violinist, says the annual Ukrainian Independence Day celebration is one of the most visible showcases of Ukrainian culture in the United States.

She recalls Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham approaching the group after performances to say, “Good job.” Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin once went a step further and joined Gerdan for an impromptu jam session.

“Raskin, by the way, plays the piano very well, and his father was a concert pianist,” Gorokhivska said to VOA.

Gerdan collaborates with American musicians, including guitarist Ian Knutson of the U.S. Army Band, bassist Greg Watkins and accordionist Kalin Kirilov, a Towson University professor.

Ukrainian book club for Americans

Since February 2026, the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America has hosted an online book club where readers discuss English-language books by Ukrainian authors or about Ukraine.

The club invites English-speaking experts who do not necessarily have Ukrainian roots.

“This gives us a foreign perspective on Ukrainian authors and their works from someone who did not grow up in a Ukrainian context,” said the club's cofounder, Anna Petelina.

She points to a discussion of Cassandra by renowned Ukrainian writer Lesya Ukrainka. Written more than a century ago, the play explores issues that remain relevant today, including propaganda, society’s refusal to confront obvious realities, patriarchy and the subjugation of women.

Ukrainian teaching method

At least 10 schools in the San Francisco Bay Area have adopted an alphabet-learning method developed by Ukrainian educator Yulia Kalyuzhna.

Kalyuzhna created her “Finger ABC” method in Kherson to teach her own children English. After Russian forces occupied her city in 2022, her family moved to the United States.

Working as a teaching assistant, Kalyuzhna began using the method with American children. It combines letters with movement: children use their fingers or bodies to form letters, come up with words beginning with those letters, and repeat the exercises through games.

“Children expand their vocabulary, visualization and imagination. They cannot sit still, so movement helps them stay focused,” Kalyuzhna told VOA.

She now works with several U.S. educational organizations. She is also developing a Spanish version of her method.