Myron Lysenko, in conversation with Tina Giannoukos on 3CR Spoken Word this morning, Thursday 27th Oct 2022.
“A lot of the Ukrainian people believe that we will win the war, even though we’re fighting against extreme odds. If we lose this war, we’re going to lose our country, our language and our culture so it’s very important to us.
“As a Ukrainian, I was brought up to always think of Ukraine as my homeland. When I went to school people would say, you know, you’re not Ukrainian because you were born in Australia.
“And I went home and I said to my father, ‘What do I do Dad? They’re saying I’m not Ukrainian, they’re saying I’m Australian!’
He said, ‘Well you go back to your school and say, “If a horse is born in a pig pen, does that make a horse a pig?”‘
‘I’m Ukrainian, and always will be…. ‘
Myron Lysenko (back row, second from left)—Tasmanian Poetry Festival 2010