Original link to article: Ukrainalainen kirjailija sai Suomessa työrauhan ‒ ”Sitä on vaikea sanoin kuvata, millaista on elää sodan keskellä” – Uutiset kotimaasta ja maailmalta
Machine translation:
Ukrainian writer found peace to work in Finland – “It is hard to put into words what it is like to live in the middle of war”
15 February 2026
20:00
Jukka Koivula
Jyväskylä
Ukrainian writer Irina Deremed-Tymoshenko worked for three months, from early November to the end of January, at the Jyväskylä Writers’ House with the support of the Artists at Risk organization.
Deremed-Tymoshenko has lived with her family in Kyiv throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Living in the middle of war naturally affects my writing. We cannot sleep through entire nights when the Russians bomb at night. When this continues for years, life becomes heavy,” she says.
Deremed-Tymoshenko is a part-time writer who earns most of her income working for a company that sells medical supplies.
“In Ukraine, literature is an expensive hobby.”
Her first novel was published in 2025.
“It is a surrealist story about a girl who lost herself between real life and dreams. Eventually she no longer knew whether she was awake or asleep.”
“Living in the middle of war naturally affects my writing. We cannot sleep through entire nights when the Russians bomb at night. When this continues for years, life becomes heavy.”
— Irina Deremed-Tymoshenko
While staying at the Jyväskylä Writers’ House, Irina completed her second novel, which she had begun in 2022.
“It is a love story and a love triangle set in wartime Ukraine. The main character is in a relationship with a man whose wife wants to speak Russian at home instead of Ukrainian. This leads to constant conflicts,” the writer explains.
“A complex knot forms, with war raging in the background. The story asks whether any progress can be made at all.”
Many novels have taken shape within the walls of the Jyväskylä Writers’ House.
During her months in Jyväskylä, she was also able to continue writing her third novel, which is still unfinished.
“It tells about children who play in caves. One of them dies in a dangerous game but later returns as a ghost to visit his old playmates.”
“I have walked in clean nature. The city of Jyväskylä, located among lakes, is small and beautiful.”
— Irina Deremed-Tymoshenko
According to the Ukrainian writer, the opportunity to spend time in Finland advanced her professional projects and brought long-awaited rest.
“It is difficult to describe in words what it is like to live in the middle of war. A person is in a constant state of tension; you can never truly relax. Here I have slept peacefully through the night and had time to hear my own thoughts. My work has progressed significantly thanks to that.”
Irina praises the nature of Central Finland.
“I have walked in clean nature. The city of Jyväskylä, surrounded by lakes, is small and beautiful.”
Irina Deremed-Tymoshenko returned to Kyiv at the beginning of February to reunite with her husband and two children.
