The Ukrainian Institute London is pleased to announce that Maryna Dubyna will be joining Olga Sydorushkina, Sofiia Melnyk and Olha Lupuliak on the UIL team as the newest member of the UIL’s Fellowship Programme for Displaced Ukrainians.
Maryna Dubyna | Kultura Fellow
As our new Kultura Fellow, Maryna Dubyna comees aboard to expand our programme of culture-related activities, such as the Institute’s annual translation prize and educational courses about Ukraine’s history and culture.
Maryna Dubyna is a literary translator and editor specialising in comics. She studied Journalism at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv before beginning her career in book publishing. Maryna has worked as a coordinator at Kyiv Comic Con, developed a board game about literary translators with the Ukrainian Literary Centre’s Translators in Action initiative, and has helped organised the literary and translation festival TRANSLATORIUM (Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine) for the past five years. Her English-to-Ukrainian translations include Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s The Umbrella Academy series. Maryna went on to receive the Chevening Scholarship for a Masters in Publishing at University College London. She has since worked as a Ukrainian-to-English translator for the Wall Street Journal, as well as other media, and as a literary agent’s assistant at David Higham Associates.
Olha Lupuliak | English School Fellow
Olha Lupuliak joined the team as English School Fellow in September 2023 to help us develop and launch extra-curricular activities for our students.
With teaching experience dating back to 2011, Olha has taught in various locations, including Ukraine, Hungary, China, and the UK. In 2018, she established her own language school named A+ in Ukraine, which operated successfully until 2022, offering courses in different languages for all age groups and providing free classes for disadvantaged families. Starting in 2022, Olha has been actively involved as a volunteer at UIL. She provided childcare and supervised displaced children while their mothers attended English language classes. Additionally, she assisted mothers with interpretation and offered emotional support. Futhermore, Olha conducts English lessons for displaced Ukrainians, aiding them in integrating into British society and becoming proficient in their language.
Olga Sydorushkina | Film Festival Fellow
As Film Festival Fellow, Olga Sydorushkina worked with us on curating and managing our 2023 Ukrainian Film Festival.
Olga Sydorushkina is a Ukrainian cultural manager with 15 years of experience in managing cultural projects in Ukraine, both local and international. She worked as a coordinator and selector at the Odesa International Film Festival, and curated the film department at the Green Theatre (Odesa). Olga worked for over two years in the development of international projects at the Museum of Modern Art in Odesa. She is also the CEO and co-founder of the festival of contemporary culture PORUCH (Odesa). Olga is currently based in London, working at The Garden Cinema and continuing to develop PORUCH.
Sofiia Melnyk | Events Fellow
Sofiia Melnyk joined the Ukrainian Institute London’s team as Events Fellow in August 2023, to work with us on developing and running our public-facing events programme.
Sofiia has a background in strategic planning in local government, and has developed a keen interest in culture as a key factor of transformation within a society and a means to convey messages to the outer world. Born in the Soviet Union, and raised and educated in Ukraine, Sofiia’s career to date has been focused on Ukraine’s development, maximising on the country’s rich resources, shaking off Soviet bureaucracy and rejuvenating Ukrainian institutions. Sofiia completed a master’s degree in public administration as a Fulbright scholar, completed multiple educational programmes in Ukraine and abroad and has gained a wide range of experience in working with international organisations that provide technical assistance to so-called developing countries.
About the UIL Fellowships Programme
We recognise that for many displaced Ukrainians in the UK, it is challenging to find work related to their professional training and experience, due to a lack of accessible opportunities. Through these fellowships, we aim to support our fellows to build their capacity and professional skills in the UK context.
As part of these placements, fellows will receive training and mentorship, and the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the Ukrainian Institute London’s work in championing Ukrainian culture in the UK and beyond.
These fellowships are made possible thanks to grants from the London Community Foundation, the Refugee Council and the British Red Cross Ukrainian Refugee Response Fund.
The fist two fellowships will begin in summer 2023, the third in autumn 2023, and will each run for three months.
