‘No One Talks About the War’ by Nina Kossman (Review)

Back in April, I covered an interesting book of poetry, Other Shepherds, in which Nina Kossman translated, and replied to, some of the work of famous Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva. It’s a lovely book, and even if poetry’s not really my area, I had great fun with it, so when Kossman contacted me asking if I’d like to take a look at another of her works, one out later this year, I decided to give it a go. However, this is a very different genre, reportage not poetry, and it takes us to a place we’re all familiar with from the news, even if we’ve perhaps not experienced it from quite this close up before. ***** In the Author’s Note beginning No One Talks About the War: Travels in Ukraine During the War, Kossman explains a little about the background of the book, and of her travels between March and October in 2023: One of my goals for my March 2023 trip was to volunteer, helping deliver supplies to civilians trapped in war zones. The other goal, which was still quite vague when I set out…