Unique Bibliography

About the Pysanka—It Is Written! A Bibliography by Joan Brander

This valuable resource is a unique compilation of more than 250 books, periodicals and audiovisual titles by an author who is knowledgeable and experienced in the ancient tradition of pysanky. When the author discovered that she could not find a published bibliography on pysanky she set about to write her own. The result is "About the Pysanka—It Is Written! A Bibliography by Joan Brander".

This colorfully illustrated bibliography brings together publications on the pysanka in Ukrainian, English, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Polish and Japanese. The publishing and cataloguing of this first of-its-kind book garnered a place for "pysanky" in the bibliography class of the Library of Congress headings - a precedent setting development.

The bibliography is a "must have" for anyone who is interested in pysanky, Ukrainian folk art, and heritage studies.

About the Author

Pysanka expert and best-selling author Joan Brander is an artist, author, instructor and lecturer who is at the forefront of preserving one of the great traditions of all time. Since learning the age-old tradition that was passed down through the generations from her grandmother whom she called "Baba", she has been passionate about advancing the culture and history of pysanky. She loves sharing her skills and knowledge and has been teaching Ukrainian egg decorating to kids of all ages since 1991.

An ancient legend says that as long as pysanky are being made, evil shall not prevail over good in the world. Joan is committed to saving the world . . . . one pysanka at a time.

Select this link for her biography and accomplishments. Select our Contact Us link to contact or connect with her.

Book Launch and Mark of Distinction Announcement

There have been two book launches of "About the Pysanka—It Is Written! A Bibliography by Joan Brander".

Washington, DC - March 8, 2008
The inaugural book launch was held at the first U.S. Pysanka Symposium in Washington, DC on Saturday March 8, 2008. The book received a mark of distinction when it was announced that the Library of Congress assigned a first of-its-kind place in its headings–a unique development in the bibliography classification.

Download the Press Release (February 2008).

See a video of the Washington book launch on YouTube.

See a photo montage of the Pysanka Symposium on You Tube (and photos on Flickr here).

Download the text of Joan Brander's Washington presentation (pdf file).

Download the Nash Holos interview of Joan Brander.

Vancouver, Canada - March 15, 2009
The British Columbia book launch was held at Ukrainian Community Centre of Ivan Franko on March 15, 2009.

See photos of the Richmond book launch on Flickr here.

Download the British Columbia invitation (pdf file).

Download the text of Joan Brander's British Columbia presentation (pdf file).

Reviews

• Here I thought I have been keeping up with all the books, videos, and DVD's on pysanky. Boy was I wrong. If you are like me and collect everything Ukrainian or pysanky this bibliography by Joan Brander is a must have." (L. Popow, artist)

• As the title suggests, this book About the Pysanka--It Is Written!: A Bibliography is a bibliography of resources on the art of pysanka (Ukrainian Easter egg decorating). But seldom will you find a bibliography quite so colourful! It's tempting to call it "eye candy" but that wouldn't do it justice, because it is as useful as it is beautiful. The author, Joan Brander, first learned the art of pysanka from her baba (grandmother). As an adult, she perfected her craft with the help of a number of resources she collected over the years. Some were easier to find than others, so as an aid for future generations of pysanka artists, she decided to create an extensive compilation of resources on the art of pysanka. Incidentally, those familiar with the language and the art form will appreciate the title's clever play on words. The word "pysanka" comes from the Ukrainian word "pysaty" which means "to write." So to be linguistically correct, pysanka eggs are not painted (or even decorated) but rather written, using ancient symbols instead of words to convey a message to the intended recipient. This book, written with words and pictures, is a beautiful addition to any collection of pysanka resources, and a great starting point for those new to this ancient and enduring art form.

  It's a gorgeous book … lots of titles. Photos of the covers, in color, also included. Books for kids, newsletters, a list of articles, and audiovisual materials. Something very neat... a chronological index as well as an author index. Congratulations on a beautiful book … and a most useful one! (Paulette Demchuk MacQuarrie, freelance writer and broadcaster)

• Thank you very much. It was needed. (Lubow Wolynetz, curator Ukrainian Museum and Library of Stamford, Connecticut and curator Folk Art Collection at Ukrainian Museum in New York City

Purchase the Book

Use the "Notes" section in your online checkout process to request that your book be autographed by the author or a personal greeting written.

Also available as eBook from Lulu Bookstore, Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble NOOK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo and Everything Else.