Zhadan i Sobaky

There is no lack of literature and poetry about music – but it is rather unusual to find an award-winning author filling large concert venues with a rock band. “Zhadan i Sobaky” (Zhadan and the Dogs) from Kharkiv combine ska, reggae and punk with elements from Ukrainian folk music. Their lyrics range from love songs to political manifests; they are melancholy and angry, poetical and ironic and they testify to their frontman Serhij Zhadan’s extraordinary feeling for language. His literary works have been translated into several languages and he received the 2022 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. These days, Zhadan is one of the most important Ukrainian voices when it comes to talking about the war.