Ribwort

Ribwort is a space to sit with your pain and listen, allowing it to shrink to the size of a scratch and heal. In 2021, independent publishers in Belarus were suspended or liquidated for protesting poems, and books were labeled extremist. Writers have been imprisoned for selling or owning them.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 17 August 2023
Publisher: 3TimesRebel Press

Ribwort is a space to sit down with your pain and listen. You may think it's not helpful, like a leaf of ribwort on a bleeding wound. The pain will probably be growing more and more acute, but if you face it, if you hold space for it. Eventually, it will shrink to the size of a scratch, which a leaf of ribwort can help to heal. When we have healed, we become leaves of ribwort for others, so we can sit down with their pain and listen. Listen with compassion and without fear, without getting defensive or running away. This is what keeps us going. In the summer of 2021, Hanna Komar brought the script for this book to a publisher in Belarus. He told her his business was going to be shut down for her protest poems. He couldn't publish them. Since then, almost all independent publishers of Belarusian books in the Belarusian language have had their business suspended or liquidated. Books have been labeled "extremist" and people have been imprisoned for selling or owning them, while writers have been harassed and intimidated. Despite these challenges, Hanna Komar remains committed to her work as a writer and activist. She believes that the power of words can bring about change and that it is important to speak out against injustice and oppression. This book is a testament to her courage and determination, and to the resilience of the Belarusian people in the face of adversity.

Dimension: 198 x 129 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781739128784