Thursday, April 11th @ 7:00pm: American-born Larissa Babij was at home in Kyiv when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. A Kind of Refugee chronicles the first year of all-out war in Ukraine through vivid dispatches that Babij sent to readers abroad. In cities flooded with refugees and bustling with humanitarian aid efforts, or while supporting an innovative military unit making DIY drones, Babij examines Ukrainian cultures of cooperation. Reflecting on her American upbringing, she ponders the premium that Western societies—shaped by the traumatic history of WW II—place on security. When she returned to Kyiv, sirens, Russian missile strikes and long periods of darkness organized her days. Written with a fierce love for Ukraine and its people, this book is a testament to the courage of ordinary people committed to freedom while defending their homeland.

Babij will be in conversation with Olena Lennon PhD, an adjunct professor of national security at the University of New Haven.

Books on the Common will have copies for purchase and signing.

Click here for more information and to register.