Iryna Shuvalova is a poet, translator, and scholar. She was born in Kyiv and lives between Europe and East Asia. She is the author of five collections of poetry in Ukrainian, which have received numerous awards. Some of her books have been translated into other languages. Her collection каміньсадліс (the title can be translated as stoneorchardwoods, 2020) was voted the best poetry book of the year in Ukraine. Her latest book is кінечні пісні (final songs), published in 2024.

Shuvalova’s poems have been translated into more than thirty languages. They have appeared in such reputable publications as Literary Hub, Modern Poetry in Translation, and Words Without Borders. In 2009, Shuvalova took part in editing the first Ukrainian anthology of queer poetry. In 2025, she took part in organizing the first Ukrainian queer poetry competition.

She is also a translator of modern and contemporary Ukrainian poetry into English, as well as a translator from English into Ukrainian. Her translation of Winter King by Ostap Slyvinsky (co-translated with Vitaly Chernetsky) was shortlisted for the National Translation Award in the USA in 2024.

Shuvalova holds a PhD in Slavic Studies from the University of Cambridge and has master’s degree in Comparative Literary Studies from Dartmouth College. She is a Fulbright Scholar and a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

The book has been translated from Ukrainian to Belarusian by Andrej Chadanovič.

Der Beitrag Iryna Shuvalova — Рэчы, за якія можна трымацца (Things to hold onto) erschien zuerst auf hochroth minsk.