23 May 2024

Special book of Ukrainian translations of Robert Burns donated to The Mitchell Library

Three people gathered for a group photo in a library. The person in the middle is holding up a book

A special volume of Ukrainian translations of Robert Burns has been donated to The Mitchell Library.

Robert Burns: Selected Works has been added to the library's world-class Burns Collection and includes nearly 200 years of Ukrainians translating Scotland's National Bard.

The volume was put together by editors Hanna Dyka and Dr Peter Kormylo and features poems in Scots and Ukrainian.

Hanna is a teacher, translator and editor who recently moved to Edinburgh from Ukraine.

Dr Kormylo is a retired teacher from Dumfries and the son of a Ukrainian father and Scottish mother. He is also a Past President of the Burns Howff Club.

The pair presented the copy of Robert Burns: Selected Works to Susan Taylor, Special Collections Librarian at The Mitchell, at an event on Thursday 23 May. 

The event featured recitals of Burns' poetry in Ukrainian and Scots as well as a performance of one of Scotland's National Bard's songs.