“The First Coffee”, or where young poets are born, is a mainstay event in the cultural calendar of Kyiv, which takes place every Saturday lunchtime in Kupidon bar in downtown Kyiv.
“It’s not enough to just write well. It is necessary to write in a way that no one before you has done,” a man once told me when I first came to Kupidon in downtown Kyiv for literary readings.
This cafe in the heart of Kyiv opened in 1995. The atmosphere is created by paintings on the walls, old furniture, signs from the 20th century and a bookstore. Kyiv’s intelligentsia gathers every week in Kupidon : artists, actors, musicians, historians, but most of them are poets. Literary evenings take place in the institution almost every two or three days. However, Kupidon’s exclusive is “The First Coffee”.
“The First Coffee” is a poetic gathering that takes place every Saturday at 1 p.m. for the last eight years. It was then that Ukrainian diplomat Yurko Pozayak told poet Oleksandr Irvanets about similar literary readings at a coffee shop in Zagreb. They’ve been taking place there for more than 50 years. Irvanets turned to Kupidon’s owner Fedir Balandin. And at the end of November 2013, they held “The First Coffee” together in Kyiv. Since then, it has been held weekly without interruption. Even during the pandemic, readings took place online. This Saturday, “The First Coffee” No 434 was held.
What’s unique about “The First Coffee”
Everyone can come for “coffee”. The main condition is that you need to read one or two verses. These don’t have to be one’s own poem, but those of other poets. Each participant is given a free cup of delicious coffee, and the winner a whole pack of coffee. He or she must also write the poem in question on a piece of paper so that it can be preserved at Kupidon. You can read poetry in any language. However, if others don’t know it, a translation into Ukrainian is required.
The winner is determined by the moderator – the person who rewards with coffee. For the first few years it was Oleksandr Irvanets. It’s been a year and a half since Oleksandr Korzh took his place. In the absence of moderators, “coffee” is conducted by other modern poets.
Usually about 20 people attend. Sometimes poets come from different parts of Ukraine to participate, but more often they are residents of Kyiv. Well-known modern Ukrainian writers and beginners join the readings.
“Surprise me,” I always say at the beginning of “coffee”.
“It will always be subjective, because one person decides everything. But for me, poetry is an audit. I check if this person is mine or someone else’s. It doesn’t matter if the poem is written with or without rhyme. If a person writes, he is my person,” says Oleksandr Korzh.
Korzh has won “coffee” 7 times, but says it is difficult to be a moderator, because often several poems deserve victory, and he needs to choose just one winner.
“I give victory for what affects me.”
Each “coffee” is also photographed by Varel Lozovy, and then all the photos are posted on Kupidon’s page.
So if you visit the capital of Ukraine, remember that poets await you on Pushkinska Street 1-3 in the basement. And perhaps “The First Coffee” will someday become yours too.
