Northwest Passages: Covering the war in Ukraine

There are over 30,000 Ukrainian-Americans in Spokane County. Spokesman-Review reporter Eli Francovich returns from assignment in Ukraine to discuss what he saw, and share stories and photographs that didn't make the paper. Adding another Spokane connection to the evening will be Christine Lysnewycz Holbert. Ukrainian literature wasn’t on American readers’ minds at all, but the war changed all of that. Holbert founded Lost Horse Press in 1998 and in 2017 as a tribute to her ancestors, established the Lost Horse Press Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series, which is edited by Grace Mahoney.

Section:Gallery

Tue., June 21, 2022

Spokesman-Review reporter Eli Francovich, who recently returned from assignment in Ukraine and Poland, discusses what he saw, and shares stories and photographs that didn't make the paper, Tuesday. June 21, 2022, during a Northwest Passages event held at the Montvale Event Center.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman
Spokesman-Review reporter Eli Francovich, who recently returned from assignment in Ukraine and Poland, discusses what he saw, and shares stories and photographs that didn't make the paper, Tuesday. June 21, 2022, during a Northwest Passages event held at the Montvale Event Center.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman
Christine Lysnewycz Holbert reads a Ukrainian poem before the start of Tuesday nightÕs Northwest Passage event with Spokesman-Review reporter Eli Francovich. Ukrainian literature wasnÕt on American readersÕ minds at all, but the war changed all of that. Holbert founded Lost Horse Press in 1998 and in 2017 as a tribute to her ancestors, established the Lost Horse Press Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series, which is edited by Grace Mahoney. There are now 10 books in the series, and Natalka BilotserkivetsÕ “Eccentric Days of Hope & Sorrow,” translated by Ali Kinsella and Dzvinia Orlowsky, has been short-listed for the Griffin Prize for Poetry.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
During a conversation with assistant managing editor Jonathan Brunt, on left, Spokesman-Review reporter Eli Francovich, who recently returned from assignment in Ukraine and Poland, discusses what he saw, and shares stories and photographs that didn’t appear in the paper on Tuesday during a Northwest Passages event held at the Montvale Event Center.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Spokesman-Review reporter Eli Francovich, who recently returned from assignment in Ukraine and Poland, discusses what he saw, and shares stories and photographs that didn't make the paper, Tuesday. June 21, 2022, during a Northwest Passages event held at the Montvale Event Center.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman
During a conversation with Assistant Managing Editor Jonathan Brunt, on left, Spokesman-Review reporter Eli Francovich, who recently returned from assignment in Ukraine and Poland, discusses what he saw, and shares stories and photographs that didn't make the paper, Tuesday. June 21, 2022, during a Northwest Passages event held at the Montvale Event Center.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
During a conversation with Assistant Managing Editor Jonathan Brunt, on left, Spokesman-Review reporter Eli Francovich, who recently returned from assignment in Ukraine and Poland, discusses what he saw, and shares stories and photographs that didn't make the paper, Tuesday. June 21, 2022, during a Northwest Passages event held at the Montvale Event Center.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo