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

Unique Bibliography

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.

Watch a Pysanka Power Video Clip on our YouTube channel that flips through the pages of About the Pysanka – It Is Written! A Bibliography by Joan Brander. Chapters include pysanky books, children’s books, newsletters, articles, audio-visual, chronological index and author index. The book also includes 72 colour plates. See the book format, pages, colourful cover, and contents of featured pysanka resource books.

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

About the Author Joan Brander

Pysanka expert 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.

Link to Pysanky Expert Joan Brander to learn about her passion, accomplishments, media attention and more.

Link to Contact and Connect With Us to get in touch with her and see her social media profile.

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.

Read the Press Release.

Watch a video clip on our YouTube channel.

Look at photos on our Flickr album

Read Joan's presentation.

Listen to an interview on Nash Holos Radio by radio producer/host Pawlina on April 27, 2008.

Vancouver, Canada - March 15, 2009

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

Look at photos on our Flickr album.

Read the British Columbia invitation.

Read Joan's British Columbia presentation.

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 Digital Book. PDF will be emailed separately.