Cecil the Lion Had to Die
Cecil the Lion Had to Die (Ukrainian: Смерть лева Сесіла мала сенс) is a bilingual novel by Ukrainian historian and writer Olena Stiazhkina, first published in both Ukrainian and Russian in 2021 by Staryi Lev Publishing House.[1] It was translated into English by Dominique Hoffmann, and published in 2024 by the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. The title is a reference to the killing of Cecil the lion.[2][3]
In a review in Asymptote, Lillian Posner writes that global attention to the 2015 killing of Cecil the lion eclipsed coverage of Russia's war against Ukraine, a contrast that Stiazhkina reworks as a metaphor in the novel.[2] The book received the 2023 Lviv-UNESCO City of Literature Award.[4][5][6]
References
- ↑ Khometa, Olha (2025). "Russia's War in Ukraine's East in Contemporary Ukrainian Literature". Slavic Review. 84 (4): 844–851. doi:10.1017/slr.2025.10276. ISSN 0037-6779.
- 1 2 Posner, Lillian (October 2024). "Lillian Posner reviews Cecil the Lion Had to Die by Olena Stiazhkina". Asymptote. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
- ↑ Babij, Larissa (3 May 2024). "Cecil the Lion Had to Die: Olena Stiazhkina. Translated by Dominique Hoffman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 2024. 200 pp". Translation Review. 119 (1): 60–62. doi:10.1080/07374836.2024.2362607. ISSN 0737-4836.
- ↑ Iryna, Savyuk (11 January 2024). "Olena Stiazhkina won the 2023 Lviv — UNESCO City of Literature Award". Retrieved 14 November 2025.
- ↑ Петренко, Тетяна (5 October 2021). "Археологія мови: рецензія на роман Олени Стяжкіної «Смерть лева Сесіла мала сенс»". Тиктор (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 30 November 2025.
«Смерть лева Сесіла мала сенс» — книжка про Схід України … один із найсильніших цьогорічних українських романів.
- ↑ "Смерть лева Сесіла мала сенс, Юлія Ємець-Доброносова". Krytyka (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 29 April 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2025.