Varvara Sorokina, 16 years old, lives in the capital of Ukraine. She has always enjoyed writing different stories of different genres, long and short, funny and sad. Most of them were inspired by her dreams, no matter how surprising it might sound. She has been attending the writing club with Halyna Tkachuk since she was twelve years old, back when members were meeting offline, participating in different club projects, that included writing a book together, or a big story, where each person had to write a fragment of it. No matter what the task is--if it is about writing, Varvara is in.
1. What would you like teens outside of Ukraine to know about you or your country?
Our country is very diverse and there are a lot of places you should visit, cities here are atmospheric and cozy, so if you ever decide to go to any of cities in Ukraine, you will definitely be delighted. People here are creative and fun to have around, so finding friends here isn't hard.
2. Tell us what we would see if we could look out your window with you right now.
You would see a wide beige building that is exactly facing my room, surrounded by different trees, and a kindergarten below.
3. Describe your home or hometown to readers.
My hometown is the capital of Ukraine, so you may have some understanding about it. You can visit different historical places, beautiful parks, cozy caffees. Every part of the city is different- Troyeshina is gloomy, but a lot of important infrastructure is there, the central streets are beautiful, aesthetic and are the cultural centres in the city, the part of the city I live in is the forest woodland, so, as you may understand, this part is surrrouned by picturesque woods, it is peaceful and delightful to be there.
4. Where do you write? What time of day do you write? Do you have a particular writing process?
Ideas come to my mind in absolutely random places, often in my room at night, but I also experienced burst of inspiration while being in the bus at night, somewhere in the park or at school. I would call my writing process rather chaotic, as I can write a text in an hour-two, being inspirated as ever, or even spend whole day writing. But I also can have an idea of a whole book in mind, but only write a chapter a week or so.
5. How would you define "imagination"?
A space in your head where you create anything that meets your interests and dreams, what you think of. Even a whole other world can be created in your head, at least I believe so.
6. If you described Ukraine in three words or phrases, what comes to mind?
Cozy, diverse, picturesque
7. How do you feel living through a war has affected your way of writing?
I started writing about fantasy situations, that take place in main character's dreams, making the stories more disturbing.
8. Who are your favorite authors?
My favourite authors are Kerstin Gier and Nataliya Sherba. I can't name more, as I often read single books of authors I can hardly remember.
9. Besides writing, what are you interested in? (Hobbies, sports, music, etc.)
Drawing characters for my stories or creating fanart of characters from my favourite game.
10. Tell us a bit about your family (siblings, pets, relatives).
Most of my family members live in my home, such as parents, pets, and my grandmother often visits us. There are also my father's parents, but I don't consider them family, since they support russia's actions. My pets are my precious dog Holly and adorable chinchilla Yuki. The text I've written was actually inspired by the way he caused my nightmare once and eventually woke me up.
11. How did you start writing creatively? Do you remember the first creative piece you wrote?
It was a short book about alien girls in middle school, which I wrote in second grade
12. What's a typical day at school overall (aside from writing) like?
My friends moved to other countries due to war, so my day at school is usually quite boring, except playing mafia in bomb shelters sometimes or a tea party at the geography lesson.
13. Do you remember the first poem/short story/essay you ever read that deeply moved you?
When it's about poems or short stories, I can't remember, unfortunately.
14. Any advice on how to write in a time of difficulty or turmoil? When parts of regular life are falling apart, how do you find the space in your mind and heart to write?
Creating art can be difficult in such moments in life, and it's understandable. Especially for me it's easier to write when life gets difficult, as I am concentrated on my feelings more and more ideas come to my mind. It doesn't work like this for everyone, for sure.
15. What helped you capture these feelings in your piece(s)? Did you rely on anything to help you emotionally during your writing process?
What helps me emotionally is friends, with whom I can communicate only online, and some recources of inspiration, such as books, my favorite video game.
