Serhiy Zhadan: An Author's Journey From The Pink Degenerate to Arabesques

How the writer's prose and poetry have changed over the years.

As part of a new concert tour, Ukrainian writer, poet, and frontman of the band Zhadan i Sobaky Serhiy Zhadan has once again combined literature and music. The band set out on a new charity tour, 'Khartiia Tour,' marking the fourth anniversary of the Khartiia brigade's founding. The concerts feature the hits 'Natakha' and 'Marat,' which began as Serhiy's poems before becoming songs.

For fans of the writer's work, the DeTalks team has put together a chronological look at Zhadan's books — from his first poetry collections in the 1990s to his contemporary prose.

The Beginning of a Poetic Voice: The 1990s

In 1993, a print run of just 100 copies brought self-published, Zhadan's first poetry collection, The Pink Degenerate. The collection carried the subtitle 'Intimate Lyrics' and was dedicated to the Second Congress of the Beer Lovers' Party. The texts focused on the poet's personal experience, youth, and a positive outlook on life. The author shared copies among his closest circle of readers in Kharkiv.

Then, in 1995, came the collection Citation Book, which became one of the defining books of 1990s Ukrainian poetry. It shaped an urban poetics built on the city's rhythms, images of empty space, and a sense of unease.

Another collection, Pepsi, captured the atmosphere of a post-Soviet city and its marginalized youth culture. Serhiy used irony, social critique, and themes of rebellion against everyday routine.

Expanding Themes and Genres: 2000–2005

The Lviv publishing house Kalvariia released the poetry collection Ballads of War and Rebuilding in 2001. In it, Serhiy turned to themes of historical memory, war, and its aftermath.

Two years later came the collection A History of Early-Century Culture. The texts captured the transitional era of the early 21st century and marked a shift in the author's style toward meditative poetry, nostalgia, and personal reflection.

That same year also saw the release of Big Mac, which brought together prose texts about the everyday life of the 1990s generation. The collection was repeatedly expanded and reissued.

Soon after, in 2004, Serhiy Zhadan published the novel Depeche Mode, which first appeared in the journal Berezil before being released as a standalone book. The novel's events take place in June 1993 and portray the life of youth in a post-Soviet city.

Prose and Nonfiction: 2005–2010

In the 2005 collection Anarchy in the UKR, Serhiy combined a reportage-style lens with cultural critique. The texts were structured as journeys across Ukraine and Europe, reflecting on a crisis of memory.

The following year brought the short story collection Hymn of Democratic Youth, where six stories portrayed the realities of Ukraine in the 1990s and early 2000s. At its center were small business, the shadow economy, friendship, and the young generation's attempts to adapt to new social conditions.

By 2007, the poetry collection Maradona had appeared, in which the author worked with themes of human limits, blending sports, everyday life, and metaphor with addiction and inner struggle.

That poem was later set to music, letting fans hear its lines in the song 'Natakha' by the band Zhadan i Sobaky.

Next came the collection Ethiopia, in which the author explored social change through the motif of constant movement. The texts traced the theme of the road and couriers as carriers of news and connection between communities.

Major Prose and Mature Poetry: 2010–2015

In 2010, the Kharkiv publishing house Folio released the novel Voroshilovgrad. At the center of the plot is the protagonist's return to his hometown and his attempt to defend an inherited business.

Then, in 2012, came the collection Gunshot and Knife Wounds, which consisted of biblical and criminal ballads, telling the stories of people acting under conditions of violence, fear, and moral choice.

The next stage of his work was Mesopotamia, published in 2014. The book combined nine prose stories and thirty poems, united by a shared urban setting. The author focused on everyday life, love, and death in the Kharkiv milieu. It was through this book that listeners of Zhadan i Sobaky first learned the story of Marat, who died in his sleep.

A year later, Zhadan published the poetry collection The Life of Maria, whose texts turned to themes of faith, loss, and loneliness.

One passage from the collection, which can be heard in the band's song 'Lystopad' ('November'), describes the first days of November, a woman sleeping in an empty room in an unfamiliar bed, and a man wondering how he could ever leave her in a foreign city, in a foreign room.

Serhiy Zhadan: War and Civic Experience, 2016–2020

In 2016, the collection The Templars was published — the writer's response to the Russian-Ukrainian war. The poetry was centered on the experiences of ordinary people, loss, love, and hope. The band MUR later used a poem from this collection, together with Serhiy, for the song 'Third Company,' from an album about the Executed Renaissance.

The very next year, Serhiy Zhadan published the novel The Orphanage, whose events unfold in Donbas over several winter days, showing the war through the eyes of a civilian.

Then, in 2018, came the poetry collection Antenna. The book included poems written over the previous two years. The poetry explored voice, language, and communication in times of crisis, as an unbroken inner and public dialogue.

In another book, The List of Ships, published in 2020, the author turned to themes of memory, loss, and gratitude, building a catalog of people and cities that shape personal and collective history.

Poetry and Wartime Prose Today

A new stage in Serhiy's work came with the poetry collection Skrypnykivka, published in 2023. The book included 51 poems and 20 of the author's own photographs. The texts were written both before and after the start of the full-scale invasion, capturing the shifting linguistic and personal experience of war.

After that, in 2024, Serhiy Zhadan published the prose book Arabesques. The text consisted of interconnected stories about the lives of Ukrainians during wartime.

Today, Serhiy Zhadan continues to actively work as a translator — in 2026, for instance, he released his Ukrainian version of selected poems by Paul Celan, Death Fugue. The artist is also actively working on music projects, releasing new tracks together with the band Zhadan i Sobaky.