Olena Boryshpolets is originally from Odesa, Ukraine. They say you can leave Odesa, but Odesa will never leave you. Thus, Olena brought Odesa with her when she came to Pittsburgh and is ready to share this incredible city with all of us. Olena is a poet, writer, journalist, actress, cultural manager, and author of the short story book Ukrainian Detox, the book of poetry Orpheus and Eurydice in New York, and the long-form poem New Calypso. Olena is also a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a co-founder of the public organization Creativity Without Borders, and a member of PEN America.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Olena traveled to Poland, where she spent a year acting in the Polish-Ukrainian play Life in Case of War. Olena is currently a Research Scholar at Chatham University and was a Research Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh from 2023 to 2026, and has been a Writer-in-Residence at the City of Asylum Fellowship for Ukrainian Writers since 2023.