Serhiy Zhadan’s A Harvest Truce is a darkly comic yet deeply moving drama set in a small town in eastern Ukraine during a fragile ceasefire in the ongoing war. Two estranged brothers reunite after their mother’s death, only to discover that the destroyed bridge separating their town from the outside world makes it nearly impossible to transport her body for burial. Trapped together in the ruined landscape of a frontline community, the brothers navigate bureaucracy, broken infrastructure, and their own unresolved resentments while waiting for authorities to help. As absurd logistical challenges collide with grief and memory, the play explores family, masculinity, and the surreal normalization of war. Through humor and sharp dialogue, Zhadan reveals how ordinary life continues, even in the shadow of violence and uncertainty.

Serhiy Zhadan is an award-winning Ukrainian poet and writer, translator, performer, and activist. He is one of the best-known and globally most recognized Ukrainian cultural figures today. Born in the Voroshylovhrad (now Luhansk) Oblast, he studied Ukrainian and German literatures in Kharkiv where he lives and has been teaching since 2000. His numerous literary and cultural awards include Book of the Year (Ukraine; 2001, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2022), BBC Ukraine Book of the Year (2006, 2010, and 2014), Hubert Burda Prize (Germany, 2006), Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski Literary Award (Poland-Ukraine, 2009), Brücke Berlin Prize (Germany, 2014), Jan Michalski Prize for Literature (Switzerland, 2014), Angelus Central European Literature Award (Poland, 2015), Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry (USA, 2021), and many others.