Letter writing often conjures notions of separation in space and time, and with reunion. What was it like to sustain and nourish personal relationships across borders and sociopolitical divides for Ukrainians under the constant scrutiny of the KGB? How did people manage to keep writing despite separation, exile, imprisonment, forced labour, wars, and migration? 

Scholars of epistolary culture from Canada, Ukraine, and the United States will examine international letter writing, censorship and surveillance, epistolary conventions and legislation, anxieties and personhood under totalitarianism, and related topics during the international symposium “Censorship, Surveillance, Resistance: Twentieth-Century Ukraine and Letter Writing” on 15-16 May 2023 in the Senate Chamber at the University of Alberta.

The event is free and open to the public. Advance registration required.

This is an in-person event and will not be digitally streamed.