Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Oleksandra Budna. I am a writer, photographer, rooted wanderer, eternal wonderer, always in search of beauty and stories.
I grew up in Ukraine and now live in Toronto, Treaty 13 territory, with my family. When I moved to Canada over 20 years ago, I brought with me memories of childhood summers spent with my grandparents in a tiny village in Ukraine and hikes in the Carpathian Mountains. Love of nature continues to drive my outdoor pursuits as I get to know incredible landscapes across Turtle Island, on foot and in a canoe, trying to capture the beauty of these lands and waters in pictures and words.
Through my writing and photography, I explore the themes of connection to and responsibility for the land on both sides of the ocean, the joys and pains of being human, and search for magic and beauty in the ordinary. My photos and essays appeared in The Globe and Mail, Blank Spaces, Scribeworth, and Explore magazine. I was long-listed for the CBC Non-Fiction Prize in 2020 and 2023, and was named a semi-finalist in the Shevchenko Foundation’s 2025 Emerging Writers Short Prose Competition.
published Stories
Dreams of a Sleeping Giant – 150 Stories Collection
My balcony garden might be small but it’s a project of hope – The Globe and Mail
Photos in Bold: Reclaiming Light Under the Shadow of War – Explore Magazine
Seconds before sunrise – The Globe and Mail
Stories of Entangled Life 