Six Ukrainians Selected for The Binding: PenPals Edition 2026

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What to Know About the online Programme of The Binding Festival.

Six Ukrainian writers and artists have been selected for The Binding: PenPals Edition 2026, Halyna Budilova, founder of the initiative, told DeTalks.

The Binding is an international festival created in Ireland by the publisher LittleBeetle Press. The event will feature both the online PenPals Edition programme and an in-person festival, which will take place on November 20–21 in Longford, Ireland.

Participants of the online PenPals Edition Programme

According to Budilova, organisers received more than 50 applications this year. Initially, they planned to select only 16 participants, but later expanded the group to 20 people. Six of them will represent Ukraine.

• Daria Prykhodtseva — an illustrator from Kherson, based in Estonia;

• Mariia Bilinska — an illustrator from Lviv;

• Mariia Golubeva — an illustrator from Dnipro, based in Ireland;

• Yuliia Terentieva — a Ukrainian writer, based in Ireland;

• Antonia Hunko-Karelina — a Ukrainian writer and translator, based in Ireland;

• Martisha Sea — a Ukrainian visual artist from Dnipro, based in Ireland.

The rest of the programme's participants come from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, Canada, Pakistan, India, Lithuania, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Meet the Mentors

According to the organisers, the selected participants will work with five mentors.

• Catherine Dunne — an Irish writer, author of twelve novels as well as essays and non-fiction. Her work “A Good Enough Mother” won the European Rapallo Prize for Fiction in 2023.

• Lia Mills — an Irish writer, author of novels, short fiction, essays and memoirs. Her work “Fallen” was chosen as the book of the “Dublin/Belfast Two Cities One Book 2016” festival.

• Rosaleen Lynch — an Irish writer, teacher and community activist. She mainly writes short and flash fiction. She has published almost 200 pieces in literary journals and anthologies.

• Tatyana Feeney — an Irish children's book author and the illustrator of more than 15 titles. She works with traditional techniques — monotype, collage and coloured pencils.

• Ganna Gnedkova — a Ukrainian writer, literary critic and translator from English and German. She has translated more than 40 books of fiction, children's literature and non-fiction.