VZ: A Portrait Against the Backdrop of a Nation: A Portrait Against the Backdrop of a Nation

How does a comedian become the face of a nation's fight for survival? In VZ: Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Making of a Nation, celebrated Russian author Dmitry Bykov unpacks the extraordinary rise of Vladimir Zelenskyy—from a TV star to a wartime leader defying a global superpower. With wit and razor-sharp insight, Bykov dives into the moments that shaped Zelenskyy's improbable journey, revealing the man behind the headlines.

This is not just a story of one leader but of a nation on the edge, and the power of resilience in the face of overwhelming odds. Bykov offers a fresh, compelling take on Zelenskyy’s leadership, Ukraine’s struggle for sovereignty, and what it truly means to fight for democracy in the modern world.

For anyone eager to understand the making of a modern hero and the fierce will of a nation under siege, VZ is essential reading.

Dmitry Bykov has published 96 books, including 12 novels, 6 biographies and 25 collections of poetry. He has won "The Big Book" three times and Brothers Strugatsky Prize four times. He participated in the Russian oppositional movement and was a member of the Oppositional Coordination Council, was poisoned in 2019, but survived. He has taught at Princeton, UCLA, Bard, and currently at the University of Rochester, where his is the inaugural "Scholar in Exile." He currently lives happily with his wife, two sons, and daughter while working on "How to Fright. Poetics of Thriller" and a sci-fi novel "In Team.”

John Freedman is an American writer and translator who lived in Russia from 1988 to 2018 when he relocated to Greece. His books include: The Life and Drama of Nikolai Erdman and Provoking Theater: Kama Ginkas Directs. He has translated 150 plays that have been performed in England, the U.S., Canada, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Russia and Ukraine, and he translated and edited the award-winning anthology A Dictionary of Emotions in a Time of War: 20 Short Works by Ukrainian Playwrights. He is Project Director of the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings for Philip Arnoult's Center for International Theatre Development.