The New York Group of Poets (also: ''The New York Group of Ukrainian Poets'', or ''The New York Group''; Ukrainian: Нью-Йоркська Група; N'iu-Iorks'ka hrupa) was a

literary movement Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by genre or period. Like other categorizations, literary movements provide language for comparing ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

refugee

modernist poets This is a list of major poets of the Modernist movement. English-language Modernist poets *Marion Angus *W. H. Auden *Djuna Barnes *Elizabeth Bishop *Rupert Brooke *Basil Bunting *Hart Crane *E. E. Cummings *H.D. * T. S. Eliot *Robert Frost * ...

(and artists) that gathered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

during the mid-1950s, imbuing

Contemporary Ukrainian literature Contemporary Ukrainian literature refers to Ukrainian literature since 1991, the year of both Ukrainian independence and the collapse of the Soviet Union. From that year on, censorship in the Soviet Union ceased to exist and writers were able to br ...

with

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

ideas and with new poetic forms. The poets eagerly experimented and embraced fashionable artistic and philosophical trends as

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, magic realism, and

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

. While the label "New York Group" commonly refers to seven founding members, namely Bohdan Boychuk,

Yuriy Tarnawsky Yuriy Tarnawsky (born February 3, 1934) is a Ukrainian-American writer and linguist, one of the founding members of the New York Group, a group of avant-garde Ukrainian diaspora writers, and co-founder and co-editor of the journal ''New Poetry' ...

, Bohdan Rubchak, Zhenia Vasylkivska,

Emma Andijewska Emma Andijewska (or ''Emma Andiievska'', uk, Емма Андієвська, link=no) (born March 19, 1931 in Stalino) is a modern Ukrainian poet, writer and painter. Her works are marked with surrealist style. Some of Andijewska's works have ...

, Patrytsiia Kylyna (a pen name of

Patricia Nell Warren Patricia Nell Warren (June 15, 1936 – February 9, 2019), also known by her pen name Patricia Kilina, was an American novelist, poet, editor and journalist. Her second novel, '' The Front Runner'' (1974), was the first work of contemporary gay f ...

), and

Vira Vovk Vira Ostapivna Selianska ( uk, Ві́ра Оста́півна Селя́нська, pen name Vira Vovk ( uk, Ві́ра Вовк; 2 January 1926 – 16 July 2022) was a Ukrainian writer, critic and translator. She wrote in Ukrainian, German a ...

, it also includes five poets who joined the founders of the group more than a decade later: George Kolomyiets, Oleh Kowerko, Marco Carynnyk, Roman Babowal, and Maria Rewakowicz. These latter poets betrayed the same inclination toward metrical experimentation and display continuity in themes. The New York Group's most active period spans approximately fifteen years, from the mid-1950s until the early 1970s and coincides with the publication of its annual poetry almanac ''Novi poezii'' (New Poetry). In 1990 Boychuk and Rewakowicz, in cooperation with the

Writers' Union of Ukraine The National Writers' Union of Ukraine ( uk, Національна спілка письменників України) (''НСПУ'') is a voluntary social-creative association of professional writers, poets, prose writers, playwrights, criti ...

, founded a literary magazine ''Svito-vyd'' in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, which continued publishing until 1999. The most iconic thematic innovations introduced by the New York Group Drew inspiration both from recent

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and from the

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while incorporating play elements, urban motifs, and

erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...

. The phenomenon of the New York Group provides an interesting study for exploring cultural and aesthetic ramifications of writers in exile. Having settled mostly in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the poets welcomed their exilic condition, which had freed them from the constraints of both

Socialist Realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

and

Censorship in the Soviet Union Censorship in the Soviet Union was pervasive and strictly enforced. Censorship was performed in two main directions: * State secrets were handled by the General Directorate for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press (also known as Glavli ...

, while also nurturing their links with Ukraine by continuing to write poetry in their

mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

. This was their way of paying tribute to the poetic history of their language, while incorporating the formal and thematic innovations of the

Free World The Free World is a propaganda term, primarily used during the Cold War from 1945 to 1991, to refer to the Western Bloc and similar countries. It also more broadly refers to all non- communist and democratic countries. It has traditionally pr ...

. In fact, some critics drew parallels between the poets of the New York Group and the poets of the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...

, although, arguably, the New York Group displays more affinity with the European modernist tradition,

New Formalism New Formalism is a late 20th- and early 21st-century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical, rhymed verse and narrative poetry on the grounds that all three are necessary if American poetry is to compete with novels an ...

, and the

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movements than with other American

post-World War II The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era started in late 1945 (when World War II ended) for all countries involved, defined by the decline of all colonial empires and simultaneous rise of two superpowers; the Soviet Union (US ...

Membership

The group was created by Bohdan Boychuk and

, with Bohdan Rubchak joining soon after.

Poets

*Zhenia Vasylkivska *

*Patricia Kylyna (

) *

*Maria Rewakowicz *Georges Kolomyiets * Oleh Kowerko *Marco Carynnyk *Roman Babowal

Artists

*Bohdan Pevny *Slava Gerulak *Jurij Solovij

References

{{Expand Ukrainian, Нью-Йоркська група, date=September 2017 American poetry in Ukrainian History of Ukrainian literature Ukrainian-American culture Ukrainian poetry 20th-century American poets American literary movements Culture of New York City