About

Valya Dudycz Lupescu has been making magic with food and words for more than 20 years, incorporating folklore from her Ukrainian heritage with practices that honor the Earth. She’s a writer, instructional designer, and mother of three teenagers. Valya is the author of The Silence of Trees and the founding editor of Conclave: A Journal of Character. Along with Stephen H. Segal, she is the co-author of Forking Good: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of the Good Place (Quirk Books) and Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us about Raising a Family (Quirk Books). They are also the co-founders of the Wyrd Words storytelling laboratory. Valya earned her MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her poetry and prose have been published in anthologies and magazines that include, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Kenyon Review, Culture, Gargoyle Magazine, Gone Lawn, Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium. Valya’s graphic novel, Mother Christmas, is forthcoming from Rosarium Publishing in 2022. You can find her at vdlupescu.com and on Twitter @valya and on Mastodon @[email protected]

Photo by Kyle Cassidy.

8 thoughts on “About”

  1. jexeffish says:

    Very Interesting!
    Thank You!

  2. Nancy Tomb says:

    I just read your book The Silence of Trees. I think it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I grew up in western PA where there are a lot of Eastern Europeans. Reading the book reminded me of home and of some of my friends and their families. I loved the way you wove the spiritual and traditional beliefs in and out with the more realistic narrative.

  3. Valya says:

    Thank you, Nancy! I appreciate your taking the time to write this note. 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the book!

  4. Kate says:

    Hello! I also just finished The Silence of the Trees. I loved it!! I could not put it down. My husband and I are currently in the process of adopting 2 older children with special needs from Ukraine. We are wanting to learn as much about Ukrainian culture, tradition, and daily life that we possibly can. Your book was so enjoyable and also informative for me. Thank you so much!

  5. Edie Lazenby says:

    Hi! I sent you a note thru your magazine before I knew you had a blog. This is the best writing I have seen in eons. The story is rich, layered, deep…I cried often, as the grief there helped me find mine.
    Great job. I have told many about it.
    You are amazing, and seemed young to embody such wisdom….
    Sending blessings…
    Edie

  6. Cindy says:

    Absolutely lovely book. You wove me into the book as if I were sitting at the kitchen table experiencing it all myself.
    Congratulations on finishing this book and I hope there is more to come.

  7. Julia says:

    I read your book yesterday; could not put it down. It reminded me of my husband’s Ukrainian grandmother. She came to the US just before WWI but had horrible experiences with German soldiers. Your book helped me understand why she said “German no good” when she first met me and found out I am of German and English descent. She later added “But you alright”.
    I loved her so much and I’m so glad I asked her to teach me to make pyrohy. Now this German-English member of a Ukrainian American family is the only one who can duplicate Grandma’s pyrohy exactly as she made them. Each Thanksgiving I am assigned to make them and I feel her spirit with me when I dO.
    I love your book and find myself re-reading certain parts again and again; they’re so powerful.

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