A conversation between Polish writer Szczepan Twardoch, German writer and translator Olaf Kühl, and Ukrainian writer and soldiers Artem Сhapeye and Oleksandr Mykhed about the zero point in war. ‘Zero point’ refers to the demarcation line that cuts through eastern Ukraine. It is the story of the war that began in 2014 ,about which Artem Tschapaj and Oleksandr Mykhed write and which is continued in Twardoch's novel. The zero line is shifting. Cities that once lay at the ‘zero point’ have been destroyed since 2014.

Zero is now the point that is increasingly approaching other borders.

Szczepan Twardoch is one of the few Western authors to have travelled repeatedly to the front line in Ukraine. He gathered material, travelled with soldiers, experienced the horrors of war and repeatedly put himself in danger. Artem Chapeye, a Ukrainian writer who became a soldier, is one of those who deals with these issues first-hand. Known for his astute non-fiction and novels rooted in realism, Chapeyes literary career has changed dramatically in recent years. Oleksandr Mykhed is the author of ten books. He has participated in literary residencies in Finland, Latvia, Iceland, the United States and France, as well as a virtual residency at the University of Oxford. He has written for publications such as the Financial Times, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and The Guardian, and has been a guest on CNN and NPR.  Since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression in 2022, Chapeye and Mykhed have been soldiers in the Ukrainian armed forces.

It is a conversation about courage, freedom and togetherness in times of disintegration. It is about borders and zero points – geographical, mental and historical. Moderated by Eastern European historian Franziska Davies. 

Participants: Szczepan Twardoch, Olaf Kühl, Artem Chapeye, Franziska Davies, Oleksandr Mykhed

Organiser: Goethe-Institut Ukraine, Ukrainian Institute, die Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung