#  Register by March 27 for the Spring 2026 TCUP Book Club 

 





March 05, 2026

 

 

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   ![Artem Chapeye book cover](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-03/2026.04%20TCUP%20Reads%20Chapeye-4-720x1080-book-cover-only.png?itok=a3xkB2vJ) 

 

#### TCUP Book Club Returns! The Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program (HURI) and the [Havighurst Center for East European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies](https://miamioh.edu/cas/centers-institutes/havighurst-center/) (Miami University) are thrilled to announce our upcoming TCUP Book Club in March-April 2026. Sign up by March 27. 

This spring, we will read Artem Chapeye’s most recent book of essays, *Ordinary People Don’t Carry Machine Guns* (published in [Ukrainian](https://www.yakaboo.ua/ua/ne-narodzheni-dlja-vijni-3392231.html) as *Не народжені для війни*). The English-language translation by Zenia H. Tompkins was published in 2025 by [Seven Stories Press](https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4711-ordinary-people-don-t-carry-machine-guns).

By registering for the TCUP Book Club, you will receive two emails about the book from TCUP director Dr. Emily Channell-Justice and from Havighurst Center director Dr. Stephen Norris to guide your reading. You will also be invited to a private (book club members only) online discussion with the author on Friday, April 10, 2026, at 10 a.m. (EDT). [Registration](https://mailchi.mp/fas.harvard.edu/tcup-book-club-subscribe) is now open!

A BBC Ukraine Book of the Year, Chapeye’s writing provides a firsthand reflection of war and voluntary mobilization. Read his interview in the [Kyiv Independent](https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-author-turned-soldier-artem-chapeye-on-culture-during-war/) for more on his perspective of being a writer during wartime.

#### From the Seven Stories Press website: 

> In *Ordinary People Don't Carry Machine Guns,* Artem Chapeye reveals his war, intimate and senseless, withholding nothing about his motivations, his nightmares, his new relationship with the world. Here, one man, a pacifist turned fighter, a story writer turned soldier, considers the reasons for and reactions to war on a very personal level.   
>   
> Chapeye investigates his role in the Ukrainian people’s defense against the Russian army and his responsibilities as a father, a writer, a soldier, and a man of conviction. An avowed pacifist until 2022, Chapeye joined the Ukrainian army in the first days of the invasion. He tries to understand the large-scale decision-making that has a defining impact on both individual citizens and society at large: many of his fellow soldiers never considered enlisting before finding themselves at war; others fled the country. He wonders what his young children at home are doing and what they’re feeling.



 

 

 

#####  Join the TCUP Book Club! 

We’re looking forward to reading *Ordinary People Don’t Carry Machine Guns* with you! Please mark your calendar for the online discussion on April 10, 10 a.m. (EDT). Questions about the TCUP Book Club? Contact [Emily Channell-Justice](https://www.huri.harvard.edu/people/emily-channell-justice).



 

 



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