Audiobook Apricots of Donbas by Liuba Yakymchuk, narrated by Catherine Deneuve, is out in France
The French publishing house Les éditions des femmes has released the audiobook Les Abricots du Donbas (Apricots of Donbas) by Ukrainian writer and poet Liuba Yakymchuk. Yakymchuk wrote about it on her social media.
Legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve read the French translation of the Ukrainian poetry collection for the audiobook.
"It's okay to reveal it now. Catherine Deneuve has narrated Apricots of Donbas, and our audiobook together is now available in bookstores in France, as well as on all French audio platforms. You will also hear my voice there, because I recited the titles and five or six other poems for the book in Ukrainian," Yakymchuk wrote.
On the publishing house's website, you can listen to one of the poems in the collection, How to Put Together a Woman, read by Catherine Deneuve and Liuba Yakymchuk.
The paper version of Apricots of Donbas in French translation was published last year.
Yakymchuk said that for two years now, Les Editions Des Femmes has been marching every Saturday in support of Ukraine, and has also been donating large sums of money for Ukraine’s victory.
About Apricots of Donbas
Liuba Yakymchuk wrote the poems included in Apricots of Donbas in 2014, after Russia occupied part of Ukraine’s east. It was published in Ukrainian by the Staryi Lev (Old Lion) Publishing House in 2015.
The creation of the French edition of the book began in 2022, when Liuba Yakymchuk was contacted by a French copyright agency.
Two publishing houses – a large network publisher and a smaller one with a long history – competed for the rights to the French translation of the book.
"The agent and all the cultural managers I consulted recommended a smaller publishing house, Editions des Femmes. It was the right choice, because the publisher paid a lot of attention to promoting the book. For example, I am currently on a three-week literary tour of France, and the book, as they say here, 'made good press’ – television, radio, and newspapers," Yakymchuk told Ukrainska Pravda.Kultura (Culture).
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