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Sophia Baran is a Ukrainian-Canadian-American currently based in the mountains of New Hampshire, USA. She received her M.F.A. in Writing with a concentration in Fiction from the University of New Hampshire, and her B.A. in History from the University of Toronto. She is an alum of the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute, and a former fiction editor of Barnstorm Journal. |
Some favorite organizations and charities supporting Ukraine if people want to donate or support:
Hospitallers is a volunteer organization of paramedics who are providing life saving aid to people and animals on the front lines. Their primary tasks are to help those wounded in battlefields, perform evacuations, assist with rehabilitation of the wounded, and deliver the dead to their place of burial.
Superhumans Center provides free services for anyone, military or civilian, who has sustained an injury in Ukraine because of the war. They specialize in prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation, and psychological support for adults and children.
Sunflower of Peace is an organization based in Boston that provides critical tactical medical aid from the United States to Ukraine such as Individual First Aid Kits (IFAKs). They also provided humanitarian aid including food and clothes, and access to heat, water, and electricity.
The Canada-Ukraine Foundation has several initiatives such as Aid for Artists which provides funding to individual artists, organizations, and institutions to help strengthen Ukraine’s art sector. Another initiative is the Displaced Ukrainian Appeal which provides support to Ukrainians escaping war and arriving in Canada.
Hospitallers is a volunteer organization of paramedics who are providing life saving aid to people and animals on the front lines. Their primary tasks are to help those wounded in battlefields, perform evacuations, assist with rehabilitation of the wounded, and deliver the dead to their place of burial.
Superhumans Center provides free services for anyone, military or civilian, who has sustained an injury in Ukraine because of the war. They specialize in prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation, and psychological support for adults and children.
Sunflower of Peace is an organization based in Boston that provides critical tactical medical aid from the United States to Ukraine such as Individual First Aid Kits (IFAKs). They also provided humanitarian aid including food and clothes, and access to heat, water, and electricity.
The Canada-Ukraine Foundation has several initiatives such as Aid for Artists which provides funding to individual artists, organizations, and institutions to help strengthen Ukraine’s art sector. Another initiative is the Displaced Ukrainian Appeal which provides support to Ukrainians escaping war and arriving in Canada.
Interview with Sophia Baran
about her story "Pattern"
Gold Winner in The Scribes Prize
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What inspired this piece?
I listen to the Lvivska Khvylia 100.8 FM radio station through Radio Garden because I like the music they play, and the talk shows helps me keep up with my Ukrainian language skills. Every so often the broadcast gets interrupted by an air raid alert, telling people to get to a bomb shelter immediately. It got me thinking about Lviv’s history with war because of its location on the eastern front of WWII, and methods of coping with stress that could be shared over the course of generations. It’s all in the patterns of repetitions in history and what we can do with it today.
What draws you to the micro-fiction format?
With micro-fiction, you must get straight to the point, there is no space for unnecessary details. It forces me to make decisions on what details are most important to the story that I want to tell which is why I like this format so much. Take this story for instance, I’ve attempted to write several longer versions of this piece, and every time it felt too inflated, I was just padding the word count. Cutting it down until it was only a couple of long lines was thrilling, and I think it made for a more impactful story.
If you could continue writing your story after these 100 words, what would happen next?
The narrator knits her sock while listening to funky music on the radio until a siren interrupts the broadcast again. This time with the all-clear announcement that goes something like: “Attention, Lviv and Lvivska Oblast. This is the end of the Air Raid Alert. Return to your homes and places of work. Be prepared for a possible repeat attack. Remain calm and maintain order.” The narrator continues knitting, having not moved from her desk at all. A new song begins playing, probably something by Avicii.
I listen to the Lvivska Khvylia 100.8 FM radio station through Radio Garden because I like the music they play, and the talk shows helps me keep up with my Ukrainian language skills. Every so often the broadcast gets interrupted by an air raid alert, telling people to get to a bomb shelter immediately. It got me thinking about Lviv’s history with war because of its location on the eastern front of WWII, and methods of coping with stress that could be shared over the course of generations. It’s all in the patterns of repetitions in history and what we can do with it today.
What draws you to the micro-fiction format?
With micro-fiction, you must get straight to the point, there is no space for unnecessary details. It forces me to make decisions on what details are most important to the story that I want to tell which is why I like this format so much. Take this story for instance, I’ve attempted to write several longer versions of this piece, and every time it felt too inflated, I was just padding the word count. Cutting it down until it was only a couple of long lines was thrilling, and I think it made for a more impactful story.
If you could continue writing your story after these 100 words, what would happen next?
The narrator knits her sock while listening to funky music on the radio until a siren interrupts the broadcast again. This time with the all-clear announcement that goes something like: “Attention, Lviv and Lvivska Oblast. This is the end of the Air Raid Alert. Return to your homes and places of work. Be prepared for a possible repeat attack. Remain calm and maintain order.” The narrator continues knitting, having not moved from her desk at all. A new song begins playing, probably something by Avicii.