The "Sunflowers" poetry collection, edited by Indian-American poet Kalpna Singh-Chitnis, contains poems on war and peace by seventy-eight poets from Ukraine and other parts of the world in their Cyrillic originals and translations, along with the poems of anglophone writers from around the world.
"Why Sunflowers? It is because it felt right. It is because a reason to invade a country can never be so wrong. It is because war, no matter where and why, is against humanity. It is because, in a war, we are together, regardless of which side we stand on and the strategies we choose. No war is ever fought one-sided, and no victory in war is a victory because the losses of war are far greater than what we achieve from it.
The most important reason behind publishing "Sunflowers" is inspired by a quote from the book "Love in Action: Writings on Nonviolent Social Change" by Thich Nhat Hanh. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Thich Nhat Hanh, witnessed the disintegration of his country and the sufferings of his people during the Vietnam War. He chose exile because he couldn't take a side in the conflict his country was facing, as the griefs of all involved in this war mattered to him. He later addressed in his book - "We who have touched war have a duty to bring the truth about war to those who have not had a direct experience of it. We are the light at the tip of the candle. It is really hot, but it has the power of shining and illuminating."
The works of seventy-eight poets and translators in "Sunflowers" illuminate the hearts and minds of the readers with the truth about the war in Ukraine. A war that cannot be justified on moral grounds. Moreover, it aims to amplify the voices of Ukrainian writers against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and support Ukrainian causes."." (From the Editor's Note by Kalpna Singh-Chitnis)
Ilya Kaminsky calls the book "a moving and powerful testament to what poetry can do to both report from the times of crisis and uplift us in such time."
Vitaly Chernetsky calls it "deep emotional truth about the horrors of war. Moving and essential reading."
Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach considers it "much needed action in a fracturing world."
