NGO · BookForum Lviv · since 1994
BookForum is a non-governmental organization that has been advancing Ukraine’s book culture and bringing Ukrainian literature to the world since 1994. We are the founders and organizers of the country’s leading international literary festival.
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NGO Forum of Publishers
We see literature as a space where people, ideas, and experiences meet.
Forum of Publishers organizes BookForum, Ukraine’s largest literary festival, which for more than 30 years has brought together Ukrainian and international authors, publishers, translators, cultural professionals, and readers. The organization develops cultural projects that promote reading, strengthen the book sector, and foster international cultural cooperation.
About the NGO
More than a festival
01
Once a year, literature steps beyond the pages, and Lviv becomes a city of books, conversations, and encounters. The festival unfolds across theatres, libraries, museums, universities, and public spaces throughout the city.
02
BookForum brings together authors, publishers, translators, illustrators, cultural professionals, and readers from Ukraine and around the world. It is a place where new connections, partnerships, and publishing projects begin.
03
Books become a starting point for conversations about culture, society, history, and lived experience. They create space for different perspectives and discussions that reach far beyond the page.
Relive it
Events
Open Discussion
11 September 2026 · 16:00
in person
Our speakers will try, through the lens of their own experience, to “return” the word “Victory” to the audience’s meaningful narrative. We will try to grasp the meanings of the word through the texts of the discussion participants.
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Discussion
12 September 2026 · 16:00–17:30
in person
About the transformations of the concept of “the world” in intellectual history, and especially in the Modern Age, about its reflection in literature, the arts, and philosophy.
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Discussion
12 September 2026 · 17:00
in person
A conversation about the necessity of poetry for non-poets, the potentially painful experiences of being united through poetry, and the phenomenon of lesser-known poetic communities reaching a wider audience.
Read moreCurated strands
A thematic cluster is a segment of the programme united by a single idea, theme, format or genre. Each cluster is a creative project led by a curator — and a way to navigate a large, diverse programme.
Powder Tower
All events within the cluster will be united by a shared atmosphere of immersion into fantastical worlds and the theme of literature’s responsibility.
Yaryna Katorozh
Stefanyk Library
Space has unexpectedly returned to the center of global discourse, displacing the previously dominant categories of time and history.
Yurko Prokhasko
Dzyga Art Club
Through the power of the word, in this cluster we will try to discuss, comprehend, and reinstall the concept of the word “Victory” into our realities in a new way.
Tetyana Pylypets
Les Kurbas Theatre
The cluster aims to give the industry something it often lacks in its daily work — a space for a strategic view of itself.
Oleksandra Koval
First Ukrainian Theatre
This cluster is about the courage to look directly at the difficult pages of history, without simplification or silence.
Vakhtang Kipiani
Palace of Arts
The cluster aims to highlight an important, though often underappreciated, segment of Ukrainian publishing — photobooks and photo albums.
Valentyn Kuzan
Lem Station
The poetry cluster brings together the voices of contemporary Ukrainian poetry — from experienced authors to new names.
Olena Pavlova
Garrison Church Hall
The programme “Languages That Will Outlive Us” is precisely about this responsibility.
Yuliia Didokha
Strand in focus
Stefanyk Library
Geopolitics is once again taking precedence over geopoetics. The cluster looks at how literature describes space, borders and belonging — and what to do with that today.
Curators
Yurko Prokhasko
Strand curator
Essayist and translator; writes on Central European culture and memory.
Strand in focus
Dzyga Art Club
The participants’ texts become a starting point for a conversation about the language we use to speak about war — and about what that language cannot yet do.
Curators
Tetyana Pylypets
Strand curator
Editor and researcher of war writing.
Strand in focus
Les Kurbas Theatre
Where publishing is heading, what challenges lie ahead, and what solutions are already working. Conversations for publishers, editors, booksellers and translators.
Curators
Oleksandra Koval
Strand curator
Founder of the Publishers’ Forum and a long-standing leader of the book sector.
Strand in focus
First Ukrainian Theatre
It is about dialogue with other nations where historical narratives diverge. And it is about responsibility — writing our own history ourselves, rather than leaving that right to others.
Curators
Vakhtang Kipiani
Strand curator
Journalist and historian, founder of Istorychna Pravda.
Strand in focus
Palace of Arts
How photobooks are made, how they are read, and why they become a document of their time.
Curators
Valentyn Kuzan
Strand curator
Photographer and publisher of photobooks.
Strand in focus
Lem Station
From classical verse to performative and visual forms. Readings, conversations and an attempt to hear how poetry sounds right now.
Curators
Olena Pavlova
Strand curator
Poet and performer working with visual forms of verse.
Strand in focus
Garrison Church Hall
To pass on linguistic and cultural experience in a way that leaves room for the future. Translators talk about what disappears together with a language.
Curators
Yuliia Didokha
Strand curator
Translator researching languages at risk of disappearing.
Together
What attendees say
Our history
The first Publishers’ Forum book fair took place in Lviv, marking the beginning of what would become Ukraine’s largest book festival.
The Publishers’ Forum NGO was officially established, and the Best Book of the Forum Award (now the BookForum Best Book Award) was launched.
The Literary Festival emerged as a major standalone event, transforming the Forum from a book fair into a large-scale cultural festival.
The Literary Festival became international, welcoming renowned authors from around the world and establishing itself as one of Central and Eastern Europe’s leading literary festivals.
The festival underwent a rebranding and adopted the name BookForum reinforcing its international identity.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BookForum was held online for the first time, significantly expanding its global audience.
In partnership with Hay Festival, BookForum became a global platform for discussions on Russia’s war against Ukraine, freedom, democracy, and the future of Europe, featuring prominent international speakers and multilingual live broadcasts.
For the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the large-scale book fair returned to the Lviv Palace of Arts, symbolizing the revival of the festival’s traditional format.
The team
Head of "BookForum" · Director "Publishers’ Forum" NGO
Finance Director
Head of the Strategic Council
Deputy Head of Technical Affairs
Communications Manager
Programme Manager
Organizer of the Book Fair “Publishers' Forum Lviv”
International Programme Manager
Member of the Strategic Council
FAQ
Lviv International BookForum is one of Ukraine’s leading literary and cultural festivals, bringing together authors, publishers, readers and cultural figures from Ukraine and around the world.
This year’s BookForum takes place on 10–13 September. More than 15 venues across the city — Lviv turns into a city that reads. Follow the news: we will announce the venues on the official website and on social media.
All BookForum events are free. No tickets or prior registration are required.
The current programme, with information about events, participants, times and venues, is available at https://program.bookforum.ua/
Yes. The programme includes events for children, teenagers and family audiences. Please note the age recommendations for individual events.
To join BookForum as a participant or a partner, fill in the relevant form on the website or contact the festival team.
Yes. During the festival, the Publishers’ Forum in Lviv book fair runs at the Palace of Arts. Visitors can browse new releases and buy books from Ukrainian and international publishers.
Follow updates on the official BookForum website and on the festival’s social media.
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