From 10 to 13 September, Lviv will host the 33rd Lviv International BookForum, one of Ukraine’s key literary events. The organisers are announcing around 300 events across 15 venues in the city’s historic centre. The festival will bring together publishers, authors, translators, researchers and readers from Ukraine and abroad.
To make it easier for visitors to navigate the programme, events have been grouped into eight thematic clusters. They cater to a range of genre and thematic interests, from history and war writing to fantasy, poetry, photobooks and professional discussions for publishers.
The Historical Cluster is curated by publicist, journalist and officer of the Ensign Service of the 2nd Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Khartia”, Vakhtang Kipiani. It will focus on difficult and long-silenced pages of the past: the Volyn tragedy, the assassination of Symon Petliura, the events of the Second World War, and the shaping of a Pantheon of Remembrance. Among the announced participants are historians Oleksandr Alforov, Volodymyr Viatrovych, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Polish researcher Grzegorz Motyka.
The War Literature Cluster, coordinated by lecturer and librarian Tetiana Pylypets, will bring together authors who serve in the military. Poetical and prose works will be presented by Ihor Mitrov, Natalka Tarkovska, Olena Herasymiuk, Ihor Dusan and Kyrylo Lukash. Open interviews and discussions are planned on the experience of war and how it is reflected in texts.
In the “New Measuring of the World” cluster, curated by literary scholar and essayist Yurii Prokhasko, participants will discuss how geopolitical shifts affect our sense of space and the global order. Philosophers and public intellectuals Vakhtang Kebuladze and Volodymyr Yermolenko will take part, along with historian Marci Shore (online, USA) and historian of philosophy Andrii Dakhnii.
The “Fantastic Conversation” cluster, curated by writer Yaryna Katorozh, will focus on fantasy, “romantasy” and science fiction as a way for readers to pause emotionally and unwind. Authors including Svitlana Taratorina, Dimka Uzhasnyi, Volodymyr Kuznietsov, Iryna Hrabovska, Dariia Piskozub, blogger Polina Nesteruk, illustrator Oksana Bula and other participants will share their perspectives on the genre.
In the photobook cluster, led by photographer and photojournalist Valentyn Kuzan, visitors will see veteran and military self-published photobooks and zines about the war, as well as a broader cross-section of the Ukrainian photobook as a distinct genre. Topics will include large-scale publications on the history of Ukraine’s Independence. Contributors to the discussions will include Halyna Hleba, Oleksandr Liapin, Dmytro Kupriian, Liza Bukreeva, Oleksandr Chekmeniov, Serhii Korovainyi and other photographers and experts.
The Poetry Cluster is curated by writer and artist Olena Pavlova, cultural manager Olesia Bedzvin and director of the Lviv Municipal Art Centre Liana Matsko. It will explore poetry as a language that responds first to reality. The programme will feature intimate readings, performances, a “Night of Poetry and Music” and a “Day of Poetry”.
The cluster “Translation as a Practice of the Future”, curated by translator Yuliia Didoha (NGO Translatorium), will be devoted to discussions of translation as a tool for preserving texts, languages and cultural memory in times of historical rupture and catastrophe. Participants will include translators Roksoliana Sviato, Oleksandr Vesheleni, Hanna Leliv and Tania Rodionova, writer Artur Dron, as well as professor, editor and populariser of Ukrainian literature Hugh Roberts (United Kingdom) and poet, artist and producer Ryan Van Winkle (Scotland).
The Professional Cluster, coordinated by director of the Ukrainian Book Institute Oleksandra Koval, will focus on the development of the publishing industry. It will address the promotion of reading, present research on reading practices and cover other professional topics for publishers.
In addition to the cluster-based programme, the 33rd Lviv International BookForum will feature events organised by publishing houses, special projects and focused discussions. The festival has been prepared with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The organiser is the NGO “Publishers’ Forum”.
The event is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation, the Canadian non-governmental organisation “Ukrainian Jewish Encounter”, the Lviv Regional Military Administration and the Lviv City Council. During the festival, funds will be raised in support of the 13th Operational Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Khartia”. Admission to all events is free.