NEW RELEASE: British magazine for Ukrainians (01/07/96)

NEW RELEASE: British magazine for Ukrainians

by Tony Leliw

LONDON - Zdorov! (which means greetings) is the name of an English-language magazine launched in Britain for Ukrainians.

The 30-page glossy quarterly has articles on diverse topics, from a profile on the Ukrainian club in London to a special feature on Ukrainian information on the Internet. There's even a piece on being a gay British Ukrainian.

As editor Irena Kuszta says in her opening page: "We're rubbish on red tape, bureaucracy, obsolescent values and outdated dogmas. What we are good at is making a point, pushing boundaries, shouting a bit and hopefully providing some useful information, as well as a few laughs."

The magazine had a 2,000 print run on its first issue, which came out in July, and is targeting Ukrainians within the community as well as those outside. As Ms. Kuszta, 26, a journalism graduate from the University of Central Lancashire, said: "Geeing information about Ukrainians through the grapevine was very fragile and not reliable." She wanted to do something about it and teamed up with publisher Peter Solowka who put up the finances.

At the moment it's just two people running the office, with the magazine relying on readers to contribute to its pages. As the editor says: "We can't do this without you and we wouldn't want to. Zdorov! has to represent your comments and ideas to make it stand out from within our existing communities."

The feedback on the first issue was very positive. "We had a lot of phone calls from people saying how good it was. One woman said the article on Ukrainian relationships struck a chord with her." The article dealt with the inability of second-generation Ukrainians to deal with sex, love relationships, parenting, etc.

As independent venture, the magazine hopes to broaden its appeal to Ukraine and abroad. An exclusive article on Ukrainian born musician Sasha Pipa, relaxing at home in Paris, proves it's already moving in that direction.

For those who don't know, Sasha Pipa is bass guitarist of group V.V., whose single Tantsi was number one in the Ukrainian pop charts for over two years. The group also broke the mold by singing in Ukrainian rather than in Russian.

The second issue of Zdorov is due out in December and is to feature articles on disabled Ukrainians and what Ukrainian men and women say about each other. It will provide its readers with a free cassette compilation of the best Ukrainian bands.

Anyone interested in subscribing to the magazine should send checks or postal orders to: Zdorov!, 63 Royal Park Terrace, Leeds, LS6 1 EX England. (U.K. subscription is $10 plus postage and package per year. U.S. subscription: $4.75 per magazine or $18.50).

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