Lydia Palij was born in Ukraine. She emigrated to Canada as a teenager. Graduated from Ontario College of Art and University of Toronto (BA). Earlier wrote almost exclusively in Ukrainian language. Sometimes in the 70-ies Dorothy Livesay heard her first attempt to translate her poems into English and encouraged her to try more. Since that time her work appeared in several English language publications in Canada and the U.S. After Ukrainian independence she became very popular in that country, and received the highest award for poetry in Ukraine in 1997.
Awards
Queens Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002
Pavlo Tychyna Award in Ukraine, 1997.
Selected Publications
Wanderings in Time and Space. (Slovo, 1973).
Land of Silent Sundays. Co-author. (Williams Wallace, 1985).
Lights on the Water. (Slovo, 1985). Strange Birds. (Slovo, 1989).
Dream Realm. (Slovo, 1994).
Without Homeland. (Dnipro Kyiv, 1997).
Woman in the Window (Lileya in Ukrainian, 2001).
Woman in the window (Libra in English, 2002).
Selected Anthologies
Anthology of Ukrainian Poetry in Canada. (Slovo, 1975).
Yarmarok. (Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies, 1987).
Beyond Tradition. (Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies, 1993).
Open Window International Anthology (Hidden Brook Press 1999).
Lydia Palij, 2545 Bloor St W, #404, Toronto ON M6S 1S1, (416) 762-0242