In Lviv the main cultural festival of the country has ended. Within five days, the city has become one of the largest literary arenas in Eastern Europe. 26 BookForum events have been attended by over 25,000 Lviv citizens and city guests. Book lovers from all over Ukraine and over 30 countries came together to celebrate their affiliation with literature.
The initiator and main organizer of the event is the non-profit public organization Publishers Forum.
Co-organizers: GA "Ukrainian Book Institute", Lviv City Council, Lviv Regional Council, Lviv Regional State Administration, Ukrainian Association of Publishers and Book Distributors, Ukrainian Library Association.
26 BookForum was supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
Country members of 26 BookForum: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Greece, Georgia, Israel, Iran, India, Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Lebanon, Macedonia, Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, United States of America, Turkey, Ukraine, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Scotland.
Indian poets Sonnet Mondal, Shanta Acharya and Kavita Jindal arrived at 26 BookForum. The Goodwill Honorary Ambassador, the Italian poet Maria Francesca Merloni, represented the creative cities of UNESCO. The winner of the European Union Literary Prize, writer from Macedonia Lydija Dimkovska, also visited.
The author of 25 books, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, also became a guest of 26 BookForum. Pulitzer Prize finalist (2018) Elif Batuman, poet Olena Jennings, co-founder of the New York Group of avant-garde Ukrainian diaspora writers Yuri Tarnavsky, and the daughter of one of the most influential US diplomats and historians came from the United States.
26 BookForum was introduced to the realities of Polish literature and novelties of their publishing market at meetings with the writer Janusz-Leon Vyshnevsky, the fiction writers Lukasz Orbitowski and Rafal Kosik, the critic Konrad Janczura, the poet Julia Fedorczuk, military historian Radoslav Sikor, reporters Wojciech Jagielski and Joanna Siedlecka as well as Dariusz Jaworski and Katarzyna Humeniuk of the Polish Book Institute. 26 BookForum was also visited by the author of the Lithuanian Book of the Year (2017), the novel “Chronicle of the Southeast” by Rimantas Kmita.
26. BookForum has become one of the locations of the contemporary European poets’ Grand Tour. A two-year journey through literary festivals in 13 cities is the presentation of an anthology of the same name - “Grand Tour. A journey through young poetry in Europe”. The book was published by the German Academy of Language and Poetry. The compilers of the collection Jan Wagner and Federico Italiano have collected 730 poems by contemporary European poets under one cover. The book also includes Ukrainian poetry. The anthology has already been presented in Frankfurt am Main, Brussels, Vienna, Berlin, Belgrade and Leukerbad. The Grand Tour goes on from March 2019 until September 2020. At the 26 BookForum, the book was presented by its editors Jan Wagner and Federico Italiano, along with poets Ulrike Almut Sandig from Germany, Miguel Manso from Portugal, Lidija Dimkovska from Macedonia and Galyna Kruk from Ukraine.
For the second year in a row, BookForum becomes a platform for introducing authors from the international platform Versopolis to a Ukrainian reader. This year poets Peru Saizprez (Spain) and Paul-Henri Campbell (Germany) attended the festival. PO Publishers’ Forum became a member of Versopolis in 2018. This prestigious pan-European poetry platform brings together 15 festivals from 13 European countries: Slovenia, Slovakia, Macedonia, Croatia, United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Poland, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Lithuania and Ukraine.
The 10th Lviv International Library Forum organized by the Ukrainian Library Association was held within the festival. The focus of the biblioforum is “The New Library is everyone's responsibility”. More than 350 participants from Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia, and Belarus took part in the bibliography.
Honorary guests of the festival:
Miroslava Diakovych - Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Lviv, Alex Lenaerts - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belgium to Ukraine, Pavel Pešek - Consul General of the Czech Republic in Lviv, Igor Drotyak - Honorary Consul of the Republic of Belarus, Nguyen An Tuan - Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Vietnam to Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko - V President of Ukraine and Maryna Poroshenko - Chairman of the Ukrainian Cultural Fund, Volodymyr Borodyansky - Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Yevhen Nishchuk - ex-Minister of Culture of Ukraine.
Opening of the 26th Lviv International BookForum
On September 18, the Lviv Regional Philharmonic hosted the grand opening of the Lviv International Literary BookForum with the participation of honorary and special guests of the festival: Yuri Tarnavsky, founder of the New York Writers Group, USA, Sergiy Zhadan, Ukrainian writer, and Karl Schlöge, political scientist, essayist, and Professor of History from Germany).
“The Lviv Publishers’ Forum is rightly considered one of the country's main cultural events. The current Forum is now the 26th, and every year it gathers more participants and visitors. This again proves that the skeptics' predictions that the gadgets will displace the book have not come true. It does not lose its position, and the Ukrainian book is gaining new fans year after year. To read domestic authors is not only interesting but also fashionable. This applies to both fiction and specialized literature. The level of children's literature is also very high. Bright illustrations and interesting content encourage young Ukrainians to read. Although, unfortunately, there are many problems in the book industry, I promise to support Ukrainian writers and publishers in every possible way. I wish readers to discover more new authors. And to the publishers and writers - grateful readers”, - Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.
The welcoming speeches by the head of the Lviv Regional State Administration Markian Malskyy, the Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovy and the founder and ideologist of the Idea of the City project Nazariy Brezysky.
26 BookForum in the language of numbers
• Over 25,000 event attendees
• 750 events in the program, including 250 discussions on socially important topics
• 1000 participants: authors, publishers, illustrators, translators, community activists and cultural managers
• 75 foreign authors
• 40 locations in the center of Lviv
• 26 thematic clusters and special projects
• Of the 26 BookForum event attendees, 77% are women and 23% are men
• About 60,000 accounts followed BookForum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The 26 BookForum events were covered by 750 accredited journalists from 370 media outlets. During July-September about 1300 materials were published, 290 subjects were filmed and more than 150 radio broadcasts were recorded.Most visited events:
• Opening ceremony of the 26th Lviv International BookForum - 500 people
• 800 people raved it up during the Night of Poetry and Music non-stop
• 650 people attended the presentation of Oleg Sentsov's book "Marketer"
• 500 people listened to excerpts from the Sergiy Zhadan’s new book performed by the author under the bass-improvisation of world-class musician Mark Tokar
• 450 people were on meeting with Indian writer, Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy
• 450 people attended the presentation of Elchin Safarli's book
• 300 people attended a discussion meeting with Ukrainian historian scientist and journalist Volodymyr Vyatrovych
• Presentation of the book "The Case of Vasyl Stus" by Vakhtang Kipiani gathered 300 people
BookForum Best Book Award
One of the most anticipated events of the festival was the 25th BookForum Best Book Award ceremony. 104 publishers took part in the competition this year. The contenders for the award were 465 books.
Vasyl Kosiv's book "Ukrainian Identity in Graphic Design 1945-1989" and the publishing house "Rodovid" received the Grand Prix. The main award was also claimed by “Ukrainer. Country Inside” by Bogdan Logvinenko from The Old Lion Publishing House and “On the Rock of Faith. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky” by Mykhailo Perun and Oksana Gayova from the publishing house “Apriori”.
In addition to the Grand Prix, the award honors 17 winners in various categories. A number of worthy books have received special and personal honors as well. The list of winners is here.
Festival’s “First time”s
Arundhati Roy visited Ukraine for the first time. Indian writer has become an honorary guest of 26 BookForum. Booker Prize Laureate presented the new novel, “Ministry of Border Happiness”. The book, translated by Andriy Maslyukh into Ukrainian, was published by the Old Leo Publishing House. The presentation attracted 650 visitors. Azerbaijani writer and journalist Elchin Safarli and Mariam Petrosyan also became honorary guests of the festival. The event with Elchin was attended by 450 readers, and more than 250 people attended the meeting with Armenian fantasy author Mariam Petrosyan.
BookForum promotes reading in Ukraine. For the first time the map of the festival's diaspora included the village of Velyka Berezna in Khmelnytskyi. A total of 55 ambassadors represented 26 BookForum in regional centers and towns in 15 regions.
For the first time during BookForum, events were translated into sign language: 14 of them became inclusive for people who do not hear. Among them - book presentations, discussions, workshops, as well as events for children. The partner of these events is the inclusive art project "Hear", whose team has been making poetry and art in general accessible to people with disabilities for 3 years.
For the first time there were special projects: "Living Stage", "Poetry", "Fiction: Romantic Literature", "Fiction: Historical Literature".
For the first time, thanks to the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Fund, it was possible to attend all events of the festival for free.
Thematic clusters and special projects
13 thematic clusters and 15 special projects became an integral part of the program. Comfortable navigation and visualization of thematic clusters and special projects was created by creative agency Element.
The 26 BookForum program consisted of 28 thematic clusters and special projects: “Affiliation”, “Classics”, “Fiction: Romantic Literature”, “Fiction: Historical Literature”, “Poetry”, “Fantasy”, “Crimea”, “War”, “Politics”, “Territory of Freedom: Media”, “Comics”, “Education”, “Creative Industries and Urban Studies”, “Business and Economics”, “Woman in the Topic”, “History” , “Science and Technology” , “Languages and Translations” , “Philosophy”, “Health”, “Travels”, ”Lifestyle”, stage readings of contemporary European play “Live Stage”.
Literary critic Anna Ulyura and head of the Ukrainian Literary Center Polina Horodyska have curated the main program “Affiliation”. The “Media”, “Literature”, and “Community” thematic blocks combine seven events of various formats - discussion, podium, open conversation, round table, and more.
Ukrainian writer, human rights activist, TV presenter Larysa Denysenko and journalist, literary critic Iryna Slavinska oversaw a special project entitled “Woman in the Topic”.
The lifestyle project sponsored by Haska Shiyan focused on the vital component of writing. Visitors learned more about the characters and values of the authors, the ‘holy wars’ and conflicts in the literary environment, the political and ideological context of creativity, personal relationships, social networks, and the balance between "real work" and writing.
Galyna Vdovichenko's curatorial program "Fiction: Romantic Literature in a World of Global Change" revealed in a series of events what the reader expects from a contemporary love novel, who writes more about love - men or women, and whether there is a limit to the frankness in romance.
Within the thematic cluster "War" curated by Maryna Bezkorovina the effect of war on culture, literature and art, and vice versa were discussed. The dialogue involved veteran literature authors, directors, photographers, philosophers, and social psychologists.
Thematic cluster “Poetry” (curator Myroslav Lyayuk) included creative nights of classics of Ukrainian poetry with classical music performance, discussion panels on the interaction of poetic generations of the last 40 years with the participation of literary critics and poets. Special conversation with those who knew Chubai, discussion on the place of the so-called “seventiesers” in Ukrainian poetry, duets of Ukrainian poets and foreign guests, as well as thematic group readings occurred too..
The “History” cluster (curated by Vasyl Kmet) focused on the publishing and scientific and educational areas of public history. The program covered panel discussions on screenplay, as well as discussion of relevant contexts for studying Ukrainian-Polish, Ukrainian-Jewish, Ukrainian-Russian relations. Kunsht magazine oversaw the events of the “Science and Technology” thematic cluster. The discussion between the traveler and the environmentalist helped to find answers to who is to blame for global warming and what to do to prevent the Sixth Great Extinction.
Cluster events revealed involvement as a global trend: "Education" - curator Daria Borovyk, "Philosophy" - curator Alexander Komarov, and "Politics" - curator Taras Shevchenko.
“The Territory of Freedom: Media” media cluster was overseen by journalist, media expert Elizabeth Kuzmenko. The participants discussed the variability of the modern multimedia ecosystem, the role of traditional media and the influences of social networks.
A separate thematic cluster was devoted to the development of the Ukrainian comics industry on the background of foreign practices of "ninth art". It was curated by NGO Flammakor and publisher Bogdan Kordoba.
Thematic cluster "Fantasy" (curated by Volodymyr Arenyev) discussed fantastic stories in different media, new trends in the market, changes in readers' tastes and what the Ukrainian fiction lacks.
The “Living Stage” special project (curated by Ostap Slyvynsky) presented seven pieces by contemporary European authors and stage authors in stage reading format. Playwrighters from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Serbia became guests of 26 BookForum. Young actors of the Lviv Lesya Ukrainka Theater, the First Theater, as well as Ukrainian writers and translators performed readings.
The 26 BookForum also hosted the UNESCO Creative Cities Convention, attended by representatives from 6 cities, and the Ukrainian-Jewish Meeting (organized by the “Ukrainian Jewish Meeting”, Canada).
“The focus program included 7 events moderated by Andriy Kurkov, Anastasia Platonova, Larysa Denysenko, Tetiana Stus, Oleksiy Segov and Vira Baldyniuk and 20 speakers: among them - Vadym Karpiak, Oksana Zabuzhko, Borys Khersonsky, Kateryna Kalytko Sergiy Zhadan, Oksana Lutsyshina, Alim Aliyev, Igor Pomerantsev, Dor Batu, Wojciech Jagielski, Mariam Petrosyan, Oleksandr Mihed, Taras Lutiy and others.
During the focus program, we had to talk about how we feel, being part of something bigger, when "I" becomes "We". It was very interesting and useful to see how the topic of the next one came out at the end of each previous conversation. Talking about big ideas ended with the topic of trust. When we talked about trust, we ended with the thesis that we are still human beings, and the next event was about humanism. It gave the impression of a holistic conversation. At all venues, they returned to two topics: the topic of truth and the topic of trauma. Naturally, the trauma intensified two themes - the war and Chornobyl. It has been over 20 years and we are ready to talk about it. It has emerged that we are forming a community in these two aspects: where it hurts; and where we stop lying to each other,” said Anna Ulura, co-curator of the focus on “Affiliation”.
"It is also interesting to note that, in all Focus topic conversations, shaping public opinion, panic, the art of social action and conjuncture are involved. In discussions around working with others or our own experiences identities and prerequisites of trust in communities, Responsibility and Honesty have emerged as one of the most important competencies and practices that need special attention and development,” adds Paulina Gorodyska, co-curator of the focus on “Affiliation”.
“BookForum is a co-creation site since its foundation: it's not just some set of events that start and end at a certain time. This is an open space for unpredictability and shared improvisation. This year's festival program was the largest dramaturgy presentation ever held at BookForum. The Live Scene program will feature seven readings by different authors from around the world. These were not just readings, but whole performances that could, in fact, easily turn into future performances. Within the program, we read texts by authors from Poland, Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany.
The absence of a clear division of responsibilities enabled everyone and everyone to become involved in the creation of this special project: the actors were directors, directors - actors, and I tried to join the dramaturgy and became the curator of an incredible special project for the first time,” noted Ostap Slyvynsky curator of special project “Live Stage".
UA: Culture TV, UA: Radio Culture TV and regional broadcaster UA: Lviv broadcasted live from the public TV and radio studio near the Opera House in the center of Lviv during the 26th BookForum.
Producer of UA: Radio Culture Iryna Slavinska says her team has been working on BookForum for the second time: “We are traveling to be where our listeners are. In September, Lviv is the place where everyone goes to join the BookForum. It is also important for us to allow all our listeners, no matter where they live, to hear the voices of top writers, festival participants.”
A Veterans’ Tent was placed on Liberty Avenue. The Veterans’ Tent was first presented in Lviv, but this year it was already in Kyiv and Dnipro. The main goal of the organizers is to promote the literature about the war. Various literary genres were presented here: poems, analytical materials, romance novels, children's books and more.
According to the organizers, more than 1,800 books were sold in the Veterans’ Tent, and about 60 authors sold their publications. There you could personally talk with the authors of the books, consult with volunteers about the provided literature.
Parties and concerts
Traditionally, one of the most popular events of the festival was The Night of Poetry and Music non-stop. More than 800 people attended the event. Poetry, combined with electronic and jazz music, has been read by authors from 10 countries: Peru Saizprez (Spain), Paul-Henri Campbell (Germany-USA), Robert Prosser (Austria), Kavita Jindal and Shanta Acharya (India-United Kingdom), Jana Orlova (Czech Republic), Miguel Manso (Portugal), Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl (Norway), Lidija Dimkovska (North Macedonia), Sonnet Mondal (India), Kateryna Kalytko (Ukraine), Gaska Shiyan (Ukraine), Olexander Komarov (Ukraine), Ivan Semesyuk (Ukraine) and Olexandra Hontar (Ukraine). For the first time, music was played non-stop throughout the night. The poets' performances were accompanied by young musician Ira Lobanok. Laura Marti & Volodymyr Kamiskiy, Alloise, nymph., Heinali feat. Michael Balog, New Brain Trio, Vendneio and DivAdzhu performed their well-known hits and new compositions for the visitors of The Night.
In addition to presentations and discussions, the BookForum program also hosts concerts and parties. In particular, Sergiy Zhadan and Mark Tokar, Concert of Marjanichi, with participation of Yuriy Izdryk and Victor Morozov, Ceremony of opening ceremony and performance of TseSho group, foam party in honor of the 10th anniversary of READING, evening of memory of Taras Melnychuk, performance of Misko Barbara and Yury Ephremov and PEN Musical Evening at the Philharmonic.
A big gratitude to all the partners for supporting BookForum 26:
Co-organizers: CO "Forum of Publishers", State Institution "Ukrainian Book Institute", Lviv City Council, Lviv Regional Council, Lviv Regional State Administration, Ukrainian Association of Publishers and Book Distributors, Ukrainian Library Association.
Supported by: Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
With assistance from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the National Bureau of the EU Creative Europe Program in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Jewish Meeting.
Official partner: City Idea
Partners: JSC "Kredobank", "FRIDOM FINANCE UKRAINE", LKP "Lvivelectrotrans"
Logistics partners: postal and logistics operator Meest, Ukraine International Airlines.
Program partners: National Bureau of the EU Creative Europe Program, Ukrainian-Jewish Meeting, Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Latvia, Center for Eastern European and International Studies, London Book Fair, Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Ukraine, Consulate General of the Kingdom of Hungary Ukraine, Affiliate OeAD Cooperation Office L'viv, UN Population Fund UNFPA, German Academy of Language and Poetry, Greek Cultural Foundation, Versopolis, US Embassy in Ukraine, Embassy Switzerland in Ukraine, French Institute in Ukraine, Consulate General of the Republic of Poland, Polish Institute in Kiev, Literary Information Center, Alliance Frances, Beletrina, Arzinger, NGO "Literary Club", Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, Czech Center in Kiev, Embassy of Canada in Ukraine, SHO Magazine, Chile Publishing House, Lviv Educational Foundation, Docudays UA, Documentary Film Festival, KSCS, Wikimedia, Center for Contemporary Art DAH, Crimean House, Lithuanian Institute of Culture, National Memorial Museum of Heroes of Heaven and the Revolution of Dignity, Lviv Polytechnic Resource Center, HD Partners Law Firm, Literary Disengagement "Gran", Institute for Cultural Strategy, Kunst Magazine, Institute for Spatial Development, Star Fortress, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Feminist Workshop, Terror Territory Museum, Ukrainian PEN, UaComix Publishing House, Center for Urban History of East Central Europe, Workshop for Creative Youth, Club of Creative Philosophy, International Renaissance Foundation, I Gallery, Meridian Czernowitz, Lviv-city Institution literature UNESCO.
Partners for events: Lviv Hotel, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Center, University of Banking, Vivat Bookstore, BANKHOTEL, Holding of Emotions! FEST, Bookstore, Lviv Academic Drama Theater. Lesya Ukrainka, Tech StartUp School Space, Bookstore Bookstore, Lviv Academic Theater. Lesya Kurbasa, Scientific Library of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv Regional Universal Scientific Library, Scientific Library of LNMU. Danylo Halytskyi, Lviv Regional Library for Youth Roman Ivanychuk, Bookstore "Ye", First Lviv Media Library, Hotel "Georges", Pub "Kupitsa", Museum of Ethnography and Crafts of the Institute of Ethnology of NAS of Ukraine, Lviv Regional Library for Children.
Official Technical Partner: Computer Universe
Official Internet Partner: Uarnet
Paper Partner: Mondi
General Partners: UA: Public Broadcasting, 1 + 1 media, Espresso, Ukrainian Week, Day, Ukrainian Press Group.
Official partners: Focus, Country, Gazeta.ua, Newspaper in Ukrainian, UA: Lviv, UA: Ukrainian Radio Lviv, Lviv Wave.
Media support: FM Halychyna, Galnet news agency, NTA, online media detector Media detector, Lviv post office, Lviv mail, WOMO, 112.ua and 112.international.
Specialized information partners: Yakaboo Online Store, “Chitomo” Portal, FAJTA Marketing Studio, Ukrainian Children's Book Space “BaraBuka”.
General partner for the settlement: Leopolis.
Settlement partners: Lviv Hotel, Villa Stanislavskyi Hotel, Archistratyg Guest House, Irena Hotel, Jam Hotel, Modernist Hotel, Ukrainian Academy of Printing.
Creative partner: Creative agency "Element agency".
Beauty Partners: “Face Factory Lviv” Beauty Salon, “Hair Factory Lviv” Beauty Salon, designer Marta Wachholz, «G-Bar» Beauty Salon.
See you at the 27 BookForum September 16-22, 2020!
For more information
Maria Kravchenko
Press Secretary of the Publishers Forum CO
tel. 099 05 45 905