I remember how after the presentation my family “begged” from what attempt I had this book and that winter evening our tradition of communication was broken. My questions were answered like “uh-huh,” “yeah”. I was ignored because they opened the novel “Burshtyn”… Well, I had no choice but to silently and meditatively eat my cold supper. On the cover of the work there is a well-known mark of The international competition “Coronation of the word”. In 2018, Vasyl Tybel was awarded a diploma in the category “novels” for “amber”and after that the work was published in the publishing house “Fabula” (Kharkiv).
Zhytomyr was included in the list of cities of the author’s presentation tour with the novel “amber” of an interesting Ukrainian writer, gardener, engineer Vasyl Tybel. Zhytomyr.Travel visited the presentation and listened to everything the author wanted to say about “Burshtyn” in fiction and not only
“I have a passion for science fiction and adventure literature since childhood. From favorite – “Chronicles of captain Blood” and “Odyssey of captain Blood” by Rafael Sabatini. Arthur Clark and Jack London are also my idols. I have 12 volumes of works by Jack London. I reread them all, although I read them differently now”
“I was brought up on fiction and fairy tales. Readers of fairy tales believe in good, although they do not always guess when it will win…”
“I never thought that in Ukraine there will be events similar to the “gold rush”. Many people learned about the “gold rush” from the works of Jack London. And here at us, nearby, it is similar – “Amber”. Perhaps, and so was written such novel, as “Burshtyn”
“The coronation of the word” made me a writer, a well-known, unique competition, the analogue of which is still worth looking for in other countries. Several thousand manuscripts were submitted for consideration that year. I have submitted works for this competition, probably since 2008. It turned out that the work “Trianski rishkuntsi” for three consecutive years reached the final of the competition, but it has not been issued. I think that because of the political component: the work describes the then President of Ukraine. ” Trianski rishkuntsi ” came out already in 2015, in Lutsk”
“I have not received the first prize of the word Coronation yet. So, for me, it is still an incentive to write better»
“Once I had to sign a copy of the novel “Burshtyn” to the chief military Prosecutor of Ukraine”
“I tried to touch politics only because of the fate of the heroes”
“Burshtyn for heroes is not only a method of enrichment, but probably God’s punishment. Dark, forest people, tortured by radiation, are doomed to survive, constantly go to work, sometimes earn a living thanks to mushrooms, berries, and then they seem to be lucky-amber appears. Free enrichment, thirst, and love of money – this is a significant test. Not everyone can pass it, so it’s a challenge not only for my heroes, but for any person, even us, because no one knows what he would have done in such a situation. The wealth and glory of copper pipe has been the hardest challenge”
“I saw those fields after the extraction of amber. It’s like they’re after the bombing. Nothing grows there. However, there are changes for the better. A friend of mine, who I was staying with, brought me on a Quad bike to the site he purchased, where he washed all the amber and is now conducting reclamation there. I saw how young oak trees and pines grow on the prospector’s field”
“I would like to understand more of my heroes. I’m not sure each of us would do the same as my friend. If you see such wealth, and those dollars float in your hands – only substitute. So you would find time, not ruin nature, and then went to plant the forest?..”
“I tried to describe the heroes of the novel “amber” without a label that someone’s a scoundrel, a bandit, a murderer and came out of nowhere. Wanted to show a brief history of each, how it happened, why he was on the other side… For man is not born a thief and a murderer…”
“Someone says about my novel ” Burshtyn ” that it is an action movie, someone is a Thriller. I prefer the mystery Thriller and love to read such a literature. Even while working on my novel, I think what will happen next in the work”
“About amber, I wrote two separate novels with similar subject, only in different historic sections. Then the works are so organically intertwined that he decided to combine into one book. And young readers, as it turned out, like the historical retrospective more than our modernity”
“Some sections of ” Burshtyn ” were written in one breath, fingers were already clenched, but I typed everything. And were and such branches, over whom had to sit. Then the second day there was a question, what I wrote?! I wanted to break everything, then calm down and begin to rewrite several times… Writing is such a thing: when you want to create, it does not always work, and when there is time – you do not always want to create. Time sat at some meeting when all sleep, play phones, and quietly printed on laptops” (Laughs)
“As such a real, documentary basis for writing ” Burshtyn ” was not. Certificates and documents intentionally not collected, maybe only slightly and the corner of his eye. I will tell so: the plot of the novel fictional, but at the same time has a certain real basis from the human stories told privately, sometimes behind a shot glass because differently diggers are silent. Once I heard an interesting story about a giant amber stone resembling a horse’s head. Three diggers who found this amber stone tragically died… From this story or legend, in particular, and began to write a novel, it is its historical part”
“The writer is the one who sees and listens. From communication with people I try to hear for myself something interesting. The stories themselves seem to be written somewhere on the sub cortex of the brain. Forgot about them, and they quietly make their way to you on paper”
“I really wanted to be a journalist. I set my mind to study in Kyiv or Lviv. Then my mother said that the water Institute is closer… So I became an engineer. Now this institution is “forging” writers, Maxim Kidruk it done, too. It was during my student years that I began to write my first novel in a notebook for abstracts. Signed a notebook ” Diary of a Waterman.” Experiences, first love… – everything was written frankly, even provocatively. And one day this notebook … disappeared. I looked for it, asked: nobody saw and didn’t hear. I thought, “Diary of a water man” someone stole as a student abstract. So my first novel went to people in one copy”
“As an engineer he worked at two enterprises. He was Deputy Laboratory at the design Bureau. When write, do certain calculations, plan. Engineering approach to writing developed”
“Knowledge engineer needed does then when he described the “drone” is a homemade pump for amber diggers. Amber was not extracted, although I really wanted to convey those feelings. Do not allow before the case, the men only shrug: “it’s wet”, there is “bad”, “we will not let you there.” By the way, every presentation of my novel asks, did I dig? Honestly – no! If you were digging, would you write books? There are big earnings” (Smiles)
“At school he wrote works on 5/4 or 5/3. I was told that I am capable in the Humanities first of all, then-in mathematics. The biggest weakness in the language – punctuation, sometimes in my letter they do not appear where they should be. My editors had a lot of coma. I try to forget about commas when I write and mostly work with content”
“…He recently published ” Chermet “in the publishing house” Nora-Druk”, a very interesting work of Markian Kamish. I would advise you to read”
“Gardening is my hobby. I grow my own seedlings. There are about 250 species of plants growing-my little Botanical garden. Kiwi, pomegranates, lemons, figs … houseplants, open ground plants, closed … my new book should be out of print soon. It is all about the garden, written as a dialogue with the reader. Some who read the manuscript said, ” Look, it’s kind of a novel.” Yes, this is a novel about the garden, because here he is the main character, his fate from birth – planting seedlings on the site, to care for him, the formation and rejuvenation of the old garden. Just like in people’s lives. The book is awaited for reading at the “KSD” approximately at the end of this summer”
Note by Zhytomyr.Travel
In The international literary competition “Coronation of the word” the author won repeatedly. In addition to novels “Trianski rishkuntsi” and “Burshtyn “, “crowned” with his novel “Honey tale”, which in 2016 awarded two first prizes – adult and children’s jury. For the first time the work “Honey tale” published in Lutsk. Now the reissue of this novel is being prepared in the Kyiv publishing house. On the basis of “Honey fairy tale” printed workbook for 2nd grade pilot schools of NUS ” I explore the world.” Now almost 200 schools in all parts of Ukraine are working on this program.
Vasyl Tybel writes from his student years. In periodicals and collections many small prose of the author is printed, in particular, the story “Winter chimeras”, “amber with an insect inside”, “mail swallows”, “Thief from a goose field” and many others.
Translated by Aliona Matushevich
