About me

Svitlana Pyrkalo is a London-based Ukrainian writer and journalist. She currently works for the EBRD as a press officer. Until April 2011, she was a journalist with the BBC Ukrainian service and presented the Friday interactive evening programme in Ukrainian from London. She is also the originator of the BBC Ukrainian annual book prize.

In 1998, she compiled and published The First Dictionary of Ukrainian Slang (UkrainianПерший словник українського молодіжного сленгу) consisting of 2700 entries. It since been used and quoted by other researchers.

In 1999 her first short novel Green Margarita (UkrainianЗелена Маргарита) was awarded 2nd place in a Smoloskyp publishers contest for young writers. Subsequently it was published by Smoloskyp in 2000 and has since been republished twice (2002, 2007) by two different publishers.

In 2000 she became editor-in-chief of a TV talk show Without Taboo (UkrainianБез табу) at the Ukrainian 1+1 TV channel, dedicated to unusual human stories, with elements of dramatisation.

In 2002, together with colleagues T. Vorozhko and M. Veresen, she published a book describing their TV experience, Without Taboo about “Without Taboo” (UkrainianБез табу про “Без Табу”) with “Zeleny Pes” publishers.

In 2004 Svitlana Pyrkalo’s second novel, Don’t Think About Red (UkrainianНе думай про червоне), was published by Fakt publishers, Kyіv.

In 2007 Fakt also published her collection of essays on food, travel and Ukrainian identity Egoist’s Kitchen (UkrainianКухня Егоїста). In 2007 Svitlana Pyrkalo also translated into Ukrainian the novel Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka.

From 2007 to 2009 Svitlana Pyrkalo wrote a weekly column in the Ukrainian-language magazine Glavred (UkrainianГлавред).

In 2006-2010 she wrote a weekly column for the Ukrainian newspaper, Gazeta po-ukrainsky (UkrainianГазета по-українськи). In 2007 these collected articles, together with 3 other authors, were published as a book by Nora-druk publishers, Kyіv.

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