The Annual Cambridge Vsesvit Evening was begun in 2011 to celebrate the art of literary translation and the mission of the journal Vsesvit (The Universe), the oldest active literary journal in Ukraine. Founded in 1925 by Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Vasyl' Blakytnyi, and Mykola Khvyl'ovyi, the journal has translated over 4,000 works from 98 literatures of the world into the Ukrainian language.
The Vsesvit Evening, traditionally held in the Chapel of Robinson College, Cambridge, consists of musical performances and literary readings of texts in the original language(s) and in English and Ukrainian translation. The readings are performed by the students and academic staff of Cambridge's Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages. Languages read to date include Belarusian, Irish, Chinese, Lithuanian, French, German, Russian, Polish, Hebrew, Italian, Georgian, Armenian, Turkish, Catalan, and Yiddish.
2021
Suspended due to Covid-19 lockdown
2020
Suspended due to Covid-19 lockdown
2019
'KURBAS: 1920s Avant-garde Theatre in Ukraine', featuring Virlana Tkacz and Waldemart Klyuzko
2018
Featuring bilingual performances of excerpts from Mykola Kulish's 1933 play Maklena Grasa, translated by Cambridge alumna Maria Montague and performed by students, staff and the cast of the Night Train Theatre Company
2017
Featuring a reading of poems of revolution by Vasyl Chumak, Pavlo Tychyna, Vladimir Mayakovsky and others as well as a presentation and live drawing performance by Mykhai Tymoshenko and Cyril Horiszny, masterminds behind a new graphic novel based on the work of Ivan Franko
2016
Featuring a performance by Ukrainian musical phenomenon Odyn v kanoe in the Chapel of St John's College, Cambridge
2015
Celebrating Polish-Ukrainian cultural exchange, featuring poetry readings in Polish, Ukrainian and English as well as original compositions and a performance by Alla Sirenko
2014
'Shevchenko Illuminated', featuring a presentation by Myroslav Marynovych (Vice-Rector, Ukrainian Catholic University) and performances by the 'Kodrant' Theatre Group of the Ukrainian Catholic University (directed by Ievhen Khudzyk) and musicians Olia Harkava, Andrii Pohorilko, and Mariia Pohorilko
2013
Featuring performances by Myroslav Skoryk and Bohdana Pivnenko; a film by Zinaida Likhacheva; and poetic works by Nikoloz Baratashvili, Metakse, and Babken Simonyan in celebration of the genius of Sergei Paradzhanov
2012
Featuring performances by Ilana Cravitz, Carol Isaacs and Yuri Vedenyapin; and works by Aharon Appelfeld, Hayim Nahman Bialik, and Rachel
2011
Featuring works by Joseph Brodsky, Enric Casasses, Dante, Aziz Nesin, and Adam Zagajewski
