Events | Forced from Home: Reading and Conversation with Ukrainian Writer Margaryta Surzhenko
David Horvitz’ 7th Ave Garden | March 23, 2025
2 p.m. (PT) | David Horvitz’ 7th Ave Garden
Join us for an afternoon with exiled Ukrainian writer and 2025 Thomas Mann Fellow Margaryta Surzhenko at David Horvitz’ 7th Avenue Garden!
Margaryta Surzhenko will read from her novel ATO: Stories from East to West. The novel revolves around the friendship of three protagonists from her hometown Luhansk during the time of the Russian invasion. Originally published in 2014, Surzhenko’s book became a bestseller in Ukraine in recent years.
The author will engage in a conversation with activist Iryna Ellis about the current situation in Ukraine and her experience as a writer in exile. Surzhenko was forced to leave Luhansk when the war began in 2014. She fled to the city of Irpin, until Russian forces occupied Irpin in 2022. The author has since found refuge in Germany.
Afterwards, award-winning sound healing practitioner and artist Roxie Sound Healing will perform a 15-minute crystal bowl sound journey, designed to soothe your mind, body, and spirit while cultivating a deep sense of lightness and peace.
Attendance
Open to the public. Please RVSP here.
Participants
Margaryta Surzhenko is a writer. She graduated from the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (IAPM) in Kyiv in 2012 with a degree in political science and published her first book about the war in Luhansk in 2014. In 2015, she founded a website featuring innovative fairy tales, which brings together more than 300 texts. Margaryta Surzhenko has published five novels. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, she has been living in Germany and teaching creative writing. She is a 2025 Thomas Mann Fellow.
Iryna Ellis was born and raised in Kharkiv, a city near the Russian border. Before moving to the US, she spent eight years as a morning show TV host, earned a PhD and taught Public Speaking at one of Ukraine’s oldest universities. Since relocating to the US in 2014, Ellis has worked as an activist and volunteer, supporting the army and civilians of Donbas through fundraisers, protests, and large-scale events, such as stage hosting Independence Day of Ukraine celebration by the Capitol in Sacramento, which drew 10,000 attendees. She also manages a brand-new property in Redondo Beach as part of a property management company.
Roxie Sarhangi is a certified, award-winning sound healer practitioner, an artist, and a radiant and skilled creator of elevated experiences. Roxie connects the transcendental power of meditation to sound healing and spiritual practice, yet keeps everything approachable and relatable. Guiding from a heart-centered approach, she takes participants on a journey where they can raise their vibration and embrace a sense of wellbeing.
